The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY-Russell Westbrook scored 12 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter and the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied from a 13-point deficit in the final seven minutes to defeat the Memphis Grizzlies 99-95 on Sunday night.
Dennis Schroder added 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, and Steven Adams had 13 points and 22 boards for the Thunder, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Thunder forward Paul George, the NBA's No. 2 scorer and league leader in steals, missed his third straight game with a sore right shoulder. Oklahoma City stepped up late without its defensive leader, holding the Grizzlies to 6-for-21 shooting in the fourth quarter.
Avery Bradley scored 27 points, Delon Wright had 17 and Jonas Valanciunas added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Grizzlies. Memphis guard Mike Conley, the team leader in scoring and assists, sat out with general soreness.
Memphis led 75-67 heading into the fourth, and the Grizzlies led 89-76 before the Thunder found their footing. A 3-pointer by Westbrook cut the deficit to 91-86 and led to a Grizzlies timeout.
Westbrook hit another 3 to tie the game at 93 with 1:04 to play, then a jumper from near the free throw line to put the Thunder ahead 95-93 with 31.9 seconds left. Wright missed a 3 and Schroder made two free throws at the other end with 14.9 seconds remaining. After Wright made a layup to trim the Thunder's lead to two, Oklahoma City's Terrance Ferguson hit two free throws with 6.5 seconds left to seal the win.
HAWKS 123, BULLS 118
CHICAGO-Trae Young was on his way to another big outing before he got thrown out of the game.
That left the Atlanta Hawks without one more important player.
They still had enough to beat the Chicago Bulls and get some payback for a quadruple-overtime loss at home two nights earlier.
Alex Len scored a season-high 28 points and Atlanta held on to beat Chicago 123-118 on Sunday.
Len finished three points shy of his career high . He also made a personal-best five 3-pointers.
Young scored 18 before getting ejected early in the third quarter for taunting Chicago's Kris Dunn.
"I'm proud of my teammates, the way they played with everybody being out," Young said. "It's unbelievable. To get a win on the road is tough."
The Hawks had to get by again without leading scorer and rebounder John Collins. The 6-foot-10 forward missed his second consecutive game because of flu-like symptoms. But Atlanta pulled this one out after losing 168-161 to the Bulls at home on Friday.
Lauri Markkanen led Chicago with 19 points, though he shot just 6 of 21. Antonio Blakeney scored 17, but the Bulls came up short after winning five of six.
The teams went down to the wire again, coming off the third-highest scoring game in NBA history.
The Hawks had to sweat out this one after leading most of the way.
Markkanen hit two free throws to cut it to 118-117 with 1:14 left before Atlanta's Kevin Huerter answered with a floater. With fans ready to let out a deafening roar, Dunn missed a wide-open 3 from the wing with 21 seconds remaining.
Huerter then missed two free throws with 15.7 seconds left. Chicago's Wayne Selden got the rebound. But after a timeout, Markkanen missed a 3 from the top of the key.
The Hawks' Kent Bazemore got the rebound, then hit one of two free throws to make it a four-point game with 7.7 seconds remaining.
CLIPPERS 128, KNICKS 107
LOS ANGELES-Landry Shamet's mind was blank. His teammates were feeding him the ball and setting screens and the rookie took full advantage in his ninth game with the Clippers.
He scored all of his 21 points on 3-pointers, Danilo Gallinari added 20 and Los Angeles routed the Knicks 128-107 on Sunday, sending New York to its 50th loss of the season.
"It was just free-flowing and the ball was going in," Shamet said. "They were telling me constantly to keep shooting."
Shamet and Gallinari combined for 27 of the Clippers' 38 points in the first quarter when they raced to a 38-20 lead.
"It's tough to play defense against shooters and two or three at the same time is tough," Gallinari said.
Shamet scored 18 of his 21 points in the opening 12 minutes. Shamet, acquired from Philadelphia last month in the Tobias Harris trade, tied the franchise record for threes in a quarter (six) and a half (seven).
His seven 3-pointers set a franchise rookie record for 3s in a single game.
"We all know our roles since the trade," Shamet said. "I feel like we all play very well together and take ownership."
Damyean Dotson scored 17 points, Noah Vonleh added 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Mitchell Robinson had 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks, the worst team in the Eastern Conference at 13-50. Only Phoenix, the West's worst team, has lost more games (51) this season.
"We've got a lot of young guys who are still learning the game, who are still learning how to compete," injured center DeAndre Jordan said. "We have a great coach in Fiz who's teaching them the right things and how to work in this league. It's a great culture."
The Clippers led 82-46 at halftime, the second-most points in the first half in franchise history and the most in any half since a club-record 87 on April 14, 1987, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
"It's nice to be able to take care of your business early and spread minutes around," Shamet said. "That's valuable, especially in a back-to-back."
The Clippers tied a franchise record with 14 3-pointers in the half and their nine 3s in the first quarter set a franchise record for the most in any quarter.
"When he (Shamet) gets it going they see it and they made sure he got the ball," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said.
The Clippers' 38-point lead in the second quarter was their largest of the game.
"We were in mud," Knicks coach David Fizdale said. "No matter who I put out there they were just heavy-legged and just really out of it mentally. It was a total lack of competitive preparation."
With most of the Clippers' starters resting in the fourth, Montrezl Harrell scored 10 of his 18 points. Lou Williams added 18 points. Ivica Zubac had 11 rebounds and Patrick Beverley added 10 rebounds.
The Knicks outscored the Clippers 61-46 in the second half when they were in catch-up mode.
TRAIL BLAZERS 118, HORNETS 108
CHARLOTTE, N.C.-Nicolas Batum said the Hornets' game plan was to stop Portland's backcourt tandem of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum.
He didn't expect Rodney Hood to beat them.
Hood broke out of a shooting slump with a season-high 27 points-all in the second half-and Jusuf Nurkic added 26 points and 15 rebounds to help the Trail Blazers beat Charlotte 118-108 on Sunday.
"I've been through worse slumps before. The biggest thing I did the second half was not think as much as I have," said Hood, who was acquired in a trade from Cleveland last month. "You know, trying to learn the plays, try to figure everything out. When we just play ball I think I can affect the game in a positive way."
In the Blazers' last five games, Hood had made just 7 of 32 shots from the field, including 1 of 10 from 3-point range.
And he didn't score Sunday until making a pull-up jumper with 2:26 left in the third quarter.
But he carried that momentum over to the fourth quarter, when he made 7 of 10 shots-including three 3s-and all four free-throw attempts for 21 points. By the middle of the period, teammates could sense his confidence and were setting screens to free him up.
"I think C.J. was 2 for 12 and (Lillard) was 9 for 20-something," Batum said. "We contained those guys pretty well and I think when you get like 21 points (from Hood) in the fourth, we didn't see that coming."
Lillard added 23 points for the Blazers, who have won six of their past seven.
Portland entered the game tied with Oklahoma City for the third-best record in the Western Conference. The Thunder were hosting the Grizzlies later Sunday.
"Tonight it was Rodney Hood. CJ (McCollum) had a game against Toronto," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "It's just been different things on different nights, not one thing."
Jeremy Lamb had 23 points and Kemba Walker had 18 points and a season-high 12 assists for the Hornets, who entered the day tied with the Magic for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.
The Blazers limited Walker to 5-of-21 shooting.
It was a back-and-forth game until the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter, when the Blazers went on a 12-2 run sparked by Hood to break it open. Portland scored from a variety of spots including a fast-break layup from a hustling Nurkic, an 18-foot jumper by Hood and a put-back from Al-Farouq Aminu that led to a three-point play.
Hood ended Charlotte's chance of a comeback when he drilled a 27-footer from the top of the key to push the lead to 14 with 2 minutes left.
The Blazers built a 56-50 halftime lead behind Nurkic, who dominated the paint in the first half with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Lamb, who was benched earlier this month for rookie Miles Bridges, was the primary reason the Hornets stayed in the game, outscoring his team's entire starting five in the first half with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting.
CAVALIERS 107, MAGIC 93
CLEVELAND-Jordan Clarkson scored 18 points, Kevin Love had 16 points and 14 rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Orlando Magic 107-93 on Sunday night.
Nikola Vucevic scored 28 points for Orlando, which was coming off wins over Golden State and Indiana. He was 13 of 16 from the field and had 13 rebounds.
D.J. Augustin added 19 points for the Magic, who hold a very slim lead over Charlotte and Miami for first place in the Southeast Division and the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Cleveland took over after the game was tied at 81 midway through the final period. The Cavaliers hit seven 3-pointers in the quarter, including two each by Clarkson and Cedi Osman.
Love returned after being held out of Saturday's 36-point loss to Detroit. The five-time All-Star is still progressing from foot surgery in November and has yet to play on back-to-back days.
Playing his seventh game since returning, Love made two free throws and hit a 3 from the top of the arc during Cleveland's game-clinching run.
Rookie guard Collin Sexton had 17 points and Osman scored 14 for the Cavaliers, who have won five of eight. Larry Nance Jr. and Matthew Dellavedova each added 11 points.
Cleveland scored 17 straight points during a run that began late in the third quarter with Orlando leading 72-63. The Magic tied the game on Augustin's 3-pointer midway through the fourth.
Vucevic scored 10 points in the third when the Magic pulled ahead after trailing by four points at halftime.
Orlando, trying to make the playoffs for the first time since 2012, has won eight of 11. The Magic went 6 of 26 on 3s.
WIZARDS 135, TIMBERWOLVES 121
WASHINGTON-Bobby Portis' shooting touch returned Sunday and the Washington Wizards picked up a win.
Portis had 26 points and 12 rebounds and the Wizards beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 135-121.
"Coming out after the All-Star break, really haven't had a good shooting night," said Portis, who had made 35.7 percent from the field over his last four games. "Been rebounding the ball pretty well, but haven't had that good shooting night like I wanted. So, I was due for one and tonight it happened."
Portis was 10 for 18 from the field, including 3 of 6 from 3-point range.
"Bobby's a good spacer and a good filler behind the screen and he can roll, and he has a nice floater," coach Scott Brooks said. "I mean, his floater hasn't been falling for him, but that's his shot and it fell tonight."
Bradley Beal and reserve Jabari Parker each scored 22 points for Washington, which had lost five of six and trail eighth-place Orlando by three games. Beal added eight assists.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 28 points-on 12-of-18 shooting-10 rebounds and seven assists. He had scored over 30 points in each of his last three games.
Towns started slowly and went 1 for 4 with four points in the fourth quarter.
Derrick Rose scored 18 points off the bench for the Timberwolves, who have lost three straight, all on the road. Taj Gibson had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Andrew Wiggins had 14 points.
"We missed a lot of coverages, especially in the second half," Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders said. "It's harder to win on the road in the NBA when your defensive intensity is not there, and it hasn't been there for these three games here."
Minnesota, which scored 84 points in the paint, converted just 4 of 27 attempts from beyond the arc.
The Wizards, meanwhile, had been averaging 18 turnovers per game since the All-Star break, but committed just nine. They made 11 of 33 from 3-point range while scoring 72 points inside.
Parker scored on a dunk and followed with a 3-pointer to give the Wizards a 93-82 lead late in the third quarter. He finished with 11 points in the quarter and Washington led 97-87 at the start of the fourth.
"Just trying to get downhill," Parker said. "My game is looking for others, but if I don't look out for myself, then I can't create for others, so I just try to keep that in mind and that kind of helped."
Minnesota got within 110-105 on a dunk by Towns before Sam Dekker (11 points, three assists) scored six straight points that started a 10-0 run, and the Wizards led by as many as 16 in the final minutes.