Associated Press
Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma City Thunder’s top trio struggled to make shots all night.
With one final flurry, they were still able to keep rolling at home.
Russell Westbrook scored 24 points, Kevin Durant added 22 and the Thunder scored the final eight points to escape with a 95-91 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night and run their home winning streak to 13 games.
Durant, Westbrook and top reserve James Harden went a combined 16 for 49 from the field as Oklahoma City managed to pull one out without needing to make a basket in the final 2 minutes.
“The thing is with us, we’ve just got to continue to just keep playing hard no matter if we’re making shots or not, and playing together on both ends,” said Durant, who missed 12 of his 18 shots.
“It was a sloppy game but I’m glad we came out on top.”
Westbrook answered Dirk Nowitzki’s fourth 3-pointer of the final period by hitting one of his own from the right wing to get Oklahoma City within 91-90 with 2:25 remaining, and Dallas didn’t score again.
Serge Ibaka hit two free throws with 46 seconds left to give Oklahoma City the lead, and Jason Terry missed two shots down the stretch for the Mavericks.
Afterward, Dallas coach Rick Carlisle protested the call that allowed Ibaka to attempt the go-ahead free throws after Ian Mahinmi swatted his shot away.
“I’m in disbelief that there was a foul called on Mahinmi. I just watched the play five times. It’s a block. That’s it. That’s an enormous play,” Carlisle said in opening his postgame comments.
“Then Nowitzki gets hit on the arm at the other end and there’s no call. I’m at a loss, so I apologize for that.”
The Mavericks still had a shot to go back ahead and then another attempt at the tie, but Terry missed both times.
“We haven’t really been sharp on our execution at the end of ball games and that’s hurt us,” said Terry, who scored nine of his 18 points in the fourth quarter. “Not a big concern because I know the type of team we are. We thrive in those situations.
“We’ve got to just keep clawing it out. Eventually it will swing our way and we’ll pull these games out, but it’s been a thorn in our side the entire season.”
Nowitzki finished with 27 points but didn’t touch the ball on a key possession when Dallas was down by two with 13 seconds left.
Instead, Terry and Jason Kidd passed the ball back and forth with Kidd getting stuck under the basket before tossing it right back. Terry missed on a short jumper along the right baseline that would have tied it, and Westbrook hit two free throws to ice it after grabbing the rebound.
Terry said “that was definitely not the plan” and guessed that Kidd must have seen something in the defense that he didn’t.
“I still ended up getting a pretty decent shot, I thought, under duress. But again, I ask for the ball in that situation and if I get another opportunity, I’m betting on myself to win,” Terry said.
Carlisle said Kidd was wide open under the basket but Terry didn’t see him in time.
“It just was a really unusual play but it never should have come to that,” Carlisle said.
Harden had 16 points on 4-for-11 shooting and Kendrick Perkins grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds for West-leading Oklahoma City. Westbrook missed 14 of his 20 shot attempts.
“It happens like that some nights. We’ve just got to stay consistent with what we do defensively and everything will play out,” Westbrook said.
The Thunder were held to their second-worst shooting performance of the season, at 38.2 percent.
“We gutted this one out, man,” Durant said. “They did a great job of throwing different defenses at us. … They mixed it up on us. It was tough to kind of get a rhythm for a few of us.”
Oklahoma City made up for it with a hefty free-throw advantage, making 29 of 33 while Dallas got to the line only 10 times and made all of them. On that note, Carlisle said : “I don’t want to be accusatory to the officials. I thought our guys were aggressive enough to have deserved a few more chances.”
Mahinmi added 13 points, all in the first half, after being pressed into action when starting center Brendan Haywood was hurt just seconds into the game.
Already without reserve center Brandan Wright because of a concussion, the Mavericks lost Haywood on the opening possession of the game. Haywood won the tip-off, then got the ball inside before missing a shot and landing with his left foot on top of Perkins’ left foot. He hobbled up the court to foul Durant and then headed to locker room and did not return.
Carlisle had no timetable on when Haywood would be able to return.
Mahinmi had seven points, including a three-point play, during a 15-5 run that put Dallas up 52-42 with 1:20 to go before halftime.
The Thunder scored the final three points of the first half and then were able to reverse a seven-point halftime deficit during the third quarter. Oklahoma City scored the first seven points after halftime to tie it at 52 on Westbrook’s jumper from the right elbow with 9:24 left, then pulled ahead 68-61 with another string of seven consecutive points late in the third.
Nowitzki scored all 12 of his fourth-quarter points by making all four of his 3-point attempts but he never got a chance when it counted the most.
Dallas suffered another tough loss after dropping its previous visit to Oklahoma City 104-102 loss when Durant hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
“There’s a lot of scrambles at the end of the games. That’s why it’s important to play from in front when you can. … There’s no excuse,” Carlisle said.
“We didn’t make the plays and I’m very disappointed at the way the whole thing went with the other stuff.”
T-WOLVES 95, CLIPPERS 94
MINNEAPOLIS — Kevin Love had 39 points and 17 rebounds to carry the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 95-94 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.
Darko Milicic had 13 points in a spot start for the injured Nikola Pekovic and Michael Beasley scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter for the Wolves.
Blake Griffin had 26 points and 12 rebounds, but scored just four in the final period for the Clippers. Mo Williams scored 19 points for Los Angeles, which outrebounded Minnesota 52-43. Three of the Clippers’ 14 losses this season have come to Minnesota.
Chris Paul had a chance to tie the game with 2.7 seconds left, but he missed the third of three free throws and Ricky Rubio corralled the rebound.
BUCKS 97, 76ERS 93
MILWAUKEE — Beno Udrih hit a go-ahead jumper with just under a minute left, and Milwaukee Bucks held off Philadelphia’s late comeback.
Brandon Jennings had 33 points and Drew Gooden added 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Bucks, who have been stuck in a funk for a little more than a month. Since beating the Miami Heat on Feb. 1, Milwaukee had lost 12 of its last 16 games coming into Monday night’s game.
Lou Williams had 26 points for the 76ers, who were coming off a narrow home loss to Chicago on Sunday and have lost eight of 10.
Williams almost single-handedly brought the 76ers back in the game in the final minutes, but the 76ers couldn’t complete the comeback.
NUGGETS 119, KINGS 116, OT
DENVER — Arron Afflalo hit three free throws with 0.6 seconds left in regulation and Ty Lawson made a 3-pointer with 4 seconds to go in overtime as Denver improved to 4-0 since the All-Star break.
Afflalo finished with a career-high 32 points for the Nuggets.
Lawson came up with the clutch basket for the second straight night, finishing with 16 points and 13 assists.
Marcus Thornton and Tyreke Evans each had 27 points for the Kings, who dropped their four straight on the day they announced they had extended the contract of coach Keith Smart through the 2012-13 season.
BULLS 92, PACERS 72
CHICAGO — Luol Deng scored 20 points, teaming with Derrick Rose in a decisive third-quarter rally that sent Chicago to its seventh straight victory.
Rose added 13 points and nine assists, hitting three 3-pointers while Deng had two in the third as the Bulls blew open a close game.
Joakim Noah had 17 rebounds to lead the Bulls to a dominating 60-32 edge on the boards. Chicago outscored the Pacers 20-4 on second-chance points. John Lucas III scored 13 points, one of three Chicago reserves in double figures.
Paul George scored 21 points for Indiana, which had a six-game winning streak snapped. George Hill scored 17 points off the bench. MAGIC 92, RAPTORS 88
TORONTO — Dwight Howard had 36 points and 13 rebounds, Ryan Anderson added 19 points and 13 boards, and Orlando won for the fifth time in seven games.
J.J. Redick scored 13 points, making a key 3 pointer in the final 10 seconds, and Jameer Nelson had 11 for the Magic, who have won nine of their last 12.
DeMar DeRozan scored 23 for the Raptors, who have not won back-to-back games since road wins over Phoenix and Utah on Jan. 24 and 25. Toronto has gone 6-13 since.
Jerryd Bayless scored 15 and James Johnson had 13 for Toronto, while Aaron Gray had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
JAZZ 109, CAVALIERS 100
CLEVELAND — Al Jefferson scored 25 points, Gordon Hayward added 23, and Utah handed Cleveland its sixth straight loss.
Utah snapped a six-game road losing streak with only its fourth victory away from home in 17 games.
Rookie Kyrie Irving led Cleveland with 22 points — 21 in the second half. He scored 13 points in the third quarter.
Jefferson was 9 for 16 from the field and had 13 rebounds.
WARRIORS 120, WIZARDS 100
WASHINGTON — Monta Ellis scored 25 points and Klay Thompson added 18 to lead Golden State.
David Lee had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Warriors, who had six players in double figures.
Ellis was 10 for 16 from the floor and didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter as both teams rested their starters. The Warriors ended their six-game road trip with a 3-3 record.
It was Golden State’s highest-scoring game since beating Toronto 138-100 on March 25, 2011.
Nick Young scored 25 points, 15 in the fourth quarter, and John Wall had 20 points and 14 assists for Washington, which lost for the seventh time in eight games.
TRAIL BLAZERS 86, HORNETS 74
PORTLAND, Ore. — Nicolas Batum scored 19 points and Portland snapped a three-game losing streak.
LaMarcus Aldridge, who had just two points and three rebounds in the first half, finished with 10 points and 11 boards the Trail Blazers, who led by as many as 26 points and got a morale-boosting victory before heading out on a seven-game, 12-night road trip. Aldridge did not play in the fourth quarter.
Marco Belinelli had 18 points for New Orleans, which has lost four of its last five games. At 9-29, the injury-depleted Hornets have the worst record in the Western Conference. Chris Kaman had 10 points and 11 rebounds.