Online Reporter
SHAI Gilgeous-Alexander scored 26 points and Aaron Wiggins added 19 as the Oklahoma City Thunder extended their winning streak to six games by holding on for a 103-101 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday at Inglewood, Calif.
Isaiah Hartenstein scored 14 points with 10 rebounds and Alex Caruso added 14 points for the Thunder (59-12), who clinched the top seed in the Western Conference last week.
Oklahoma City plays at Sacramento on Tuesday before returning home for six of their next seven games as they make preparations for the upcoming playoffs.
Kawhi Leonard scored 25 points with 10 rebounds and James Harden added 17 points as the Clippers (40-31) saw their five-game winning streak come to an end.
Ivica Zubac scored 15 points with 11 rebounds for the Clippers, who also saw their eight-game home winning streak snapped. Los Angeles was unable to move into a tie for sixth place in the Western Conference with the Golden State Warriors.
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Jamal Murray scored 17 of his game-high 39 points in a turnaround third quarter as the Denver Nuggets claimed a critical 116-111 victory over the host Houston Rockets on Sunday.
Murray shot 15-for-28 and added seven assists to help the Nuggets (45-27) overcome the absence of star center Nikola Jokic, who missed his fourth consecutive game with a left ankle impingement. Murray scored 12 straight points during one decisive stretch in the third, a run that he capped with an alley-oop pass to DeAndre Jordan, who scored through a foul and subsequently completed a three-point play that supplied the Nuggets an 86-73 lead with 2:39 remaining in the period. The Nuggets outscored the Rockets 39-22 in the third.
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Andrew Wiggins scored 15 of his season-high 42 points in the decisive third quarter as the host Miami Heat snapped their 10-game losing streak, beating the Charlotte Hornets 122-105 on Sunday night.
Wiggins – who fell five points shy of his career-high point total – made 16 of 21 shots from the field, including 6 of 8 from 3-point range, and had five assists and two steals.
Snapping their longest skid since 2007-08, the Heat (30-41) got 29 points from Tyler Herro, who played with a left hip contusion. Bam Adebayo played despite a sprained left knee and scored 11 points.
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Jayson Tatum scored 30 points as the Boston Celtics defeated the host Portland Trail Blazers 129-116 on Sunday night. Tatum scored 24 of those points after halftime, and narrowly missed his third triple-double of the season, finishing with nine rebounds and nine assists.
Sam Hauser racked up 24 points on 8 of 10 3-pointers, while Derrick White added 17 points, including going 4 of 10 from deep. In a rare starting role, Payton Pritchard scored 16 points, including 4 of 9 from long range. — Reuters.
