OKLAHOMA — Oklahoma City guard Russell Westbrook gorged himself with 27 points in the first half as the Thunder extended their recent dominant run with a 114-108 win over the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers Friday. The victory was the Thunder's seventh in a row, and their 16th win of the season, while the Lakers are struggling at 9-11. After trailing by a point after the first quarter, the Thunder (16-4) exploded in the second with 41 to open up a 14-point lead at the half, a gap the Lakers could not reel in. “That was a solid win, we had some very good stretches but then in the second half we had some not so good stretches. We relaxed some on defense in the second half,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. Westbrook had a huge first half, scoring 27 of his 33 points to help the Thunder open up the big gap. The battle of the scoring big guns went to Thunder forward Kevin Durant with 36 points and nine rebounds, while Lakers guard Kobe Bryant finished with 35 points. Howard contributed 23 points and 18 rebounds. “It wasn't us, Westbrook just went crazy on us and they're a great shooting basketball team that had a hot quarter,” Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni told reporters. The teams met in the Western Conference semi-finals last season with the Thunder winning in five games before eventually losing to the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. Grizzlies 96, Hornets 89: Rudy Gay tied a season high with 28 points and the Memphis Grizzlies maintained their NBA-best winning percentage with their second-straight victory over the struggling New Orleans Hornets. New Orleans put up resistance, though, despite losing for the 11th time in 13 games, and Memphis needed Gay's 3 with 2:10 left to get some breathing room. Former Hornets first-round draft choice Quincy Pondexter tied a season high with 16 points for the Grizzlies, who improved to 14-3 (.823). Zach Randolph added 15 points and Marc Gasol 13. Ryan Anderson, Austin Rivers and Brian Roberts each scored 15 points for the Hornets, who were within one possession of tying or leading several times in the fourth quarter. Nuggets 92, Pacers 89: Andre Miller scored eight of his 15 points during a late 10-0 spurt, sending the Denver Nuggets to victory over the Indiana Pacers. The Nuggets (10-10) have won 13 of the last 16 in this series, including seven of the last nine in Indianapolis. The 36-year-old Miller was the big reason this time. Denver led most of the second half but found itself in an 85-82 deficit with 3:32 left. That's when Miller took over. He made two free throws, a layup, a 15-foot jumper and assisted on JaVale McGee's breakaway dunk to make it 90-85 with 1:38 left, then closed the run with a 14-foot pull-up jumper. Indiana (10-10) had a chance to force overtime, but George Hill's 3 bounced off the rim. Paul George led the Pacers with 22 points. Bulls 108, Pistons 104: Joakim Noah had career highs of 30 points and 23 rebounds, to help Chicago beat Detroit for the 16th straight time. The Bulls trailed by 17 points in the second quarter, but rallied toward the end of the half and took control in the fourth quarter. All five Chicago starters finished in double figures, including Carlos Boozer with 24 points. Luol Deng and Marco Belinelli scored 16 apiece. Rodney Stuckey led Detroit with 24 points and Brandon Knight added 21. Spurs 114, Rockets 92: Tony Parker had 17 points and seven assists, and San Antonio never trailed in a win over Houston. The Spurs had six players score in double figures while matching their season high with 33 assists. Tiago Splitter scored 15 points and Gary Neal, Manu Ginobili, Patty Mills and Tim Duncan each added 12. Duncan also had a game-high 12 rebounds. James Harden had 29 points, and Patrick Patterson and Toney Douglas each scored 10 to lead Houston. Warriors 109, Nets 102: David Lee had 30 points and 15 rebounds, Stephen Curry scored 28 points, and Golden State gave coach Mark Jackson a winning return to Brooklyn. Lee scored six straight points to break open a tie game midway through the fourth quarter, and Curry had 21 in the second half for the Warriors, who won for the fifth time in six games. Joe Johnson scored a season-high 32 points for the Nets, who dropped their season-high third straight. Deron Williams added 23 points and eight assists. Timberwolves 91, Cavaliers 73: Kevin Love had 36 points and 13 rebounds to lead Minnesota past Cleveland. Luke Ridnour had 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds for the Timberwolves, and Andrei Kirilenko had eight points, seven rebounds and six assists after missing the previous four games with back spasms. Alonzo Gee scored 16 points and Anderson Varejao grabbed 14 rebounds for the Cavaliers. Hawks 104, Wizards 95: Josh Smith had 23 points and 15 rebounds, Al Horford also posted a double-double and the Atlanta Hawks beat Washington 104-95 on Friday night to keep the Wizards winless on the road. Horford had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Hawks, who have won eight of nine. The Wizards, who had won two of three following their 0-12 start, fell to 0-8 in road games. Bucks 108, Bobcats 93: Ersan Ilyasova scored a season-high 21 points and Marquis Daniels had season highs with 18 points and six rebounds as Milwaukee took command early and cruised past Charlotte. Brandon Jennings had 15 points and eight assists and Monta Ellis added 13 points to help the Bucks. Gerald Henderson led the Bobcats with 19 points and Kemba Walker had 16 for Charlotte, which has lost six in a row. Jazz 131, Raptors 99: Paul Millsap scored 20 points, Enes Kanter had 18 in his first career start and Utah hit 13 3-pointers. Gordon Hayward added 17 points off the bench as the Jazz improved to 8-1 at home. Marvin Williams, Randy Foye and DeMarre Carroll all made three 3-pointers as Utah finished 13 for 23 from beyond the arc. Andrea Bargnani led Toronto with 20 points and eight rebounds. Kings 91, Magic 82: DeMarcus Cousins had 17 points and 14 rebounds and reserve guard Isaiah Thomas also scored 17 to lead Sacramento. Glen Davis had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Orlando, but fouled out in the final 36 seconds. Arron Afflalo had 18 points and Jameer Nelson added 17. — Agencies
