By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Russell Westbrook scored 29 points, grabbed 17 rebounds — all defensive — and added 11 assists for his 15th triple-double of the season, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Heat 106-94 for their fourth straight win.
Turk big man Enes Kanter scored 19 points and Spaniard Alex Abrines added 14. Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis had 6 points and 5 rebounds, while Frenchman Joffrey Lauvergne added 3 points. The Slovenian guard of the Heat, Goran Dragic, missed the game.
The Celtics got the 113-103 victory, despite Marc Gasol having 26 points and nine assists for Memphis. The Spanish star was not enough, while Jona Jerebko of Sweden had 1 rebound and 1 assist for the winners.
Joe Ingles made the biggest shot of the day, as the former Euroleague champ with Maccabi Tel Aviv gave a 102-100 win to Utah over the Los Angeles Lakers with a three. French center Rudy Gobert had 12 points and 11 rebounds and his compatriote Boris Diaw added 10 points. For the Lakers, Brit Luol Deng had 9 points and 9 rebounds amd Russian Timofey Mozgov added 9 points and 5 rebounds.
Despite 34 points and an easy 123-107 Houston victory that completed a four-game season sweep of the last-place Mavericks on Tuesday night, James Harden wasn’t happy.
“That other team was trippin’ tonight, just disrespectful, unprofessional, players and coaches,” Harden said. “I don’t know what was their problem, but I think that got us going. They wanted to throw a little cheap shot and just woke us up a little bit and it was over from there.” Dirk Nowitzki scored 7 points for the losing side.
Eastern Conference
1 Cleveland Cavaliers 23-7
2 Toronto Raptors 22-8
3 Boston Celtics 19-13
4 Charlotte Hornets 17-14
5 New York Knicks 16-14
6 Atlanta Hawks 15-16
7 Chicago Bulls 15-16
8 Milwaukee Bucks 14-15
Indiana Pacers 15-17
Washington Wizards 14-16
Detroit Pistons 15-18
Orlando Magic 15-18
Miami Heat 10-22
Brooklyn Nets 8-22
Philadelphia 76ers 7-23
Western Conference
1 Golden State Warriors 27-5
2 San Antonio Spurs 25-6
3 Houston Rockets 24-9
4 LA Clippers 22-11
5 Oklahoma City Thunder 20-12
6 Utah Jazz 19-13
7 Memphis Grizzlies 20-14
8 Sacramento Kings 14-17
Denver Nuggets 13-18
Portland Trail Blazers 13-20
New Orleans Pelicans 12-21
Los Angeles Lakers 12-23
Minnesota Timberwolves 10-21
Phoenix Suns 9-22
Dallas Mavericks 9-23