Los Angeles, United States—The Toronto Raptors withstood a 51-point performance from Kevin Durant to beat two-time defending champions Golden State 131-128 in overtime Thursday in a game billed as a possible NBA Finals preview.
Kawhi Leonard scored 37 points and Pascal Siakam added a career high 26 for the Raptors, who notched a seventh straight victory to improve their league-leading record to 19-4 in front of a jubilant home crowd.
The Warriors, playing without injured stars Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, fell to 15-8 as they endured their fifth straight road defeat.
Durant, who also grabbed 11 rebounds and handed out six assists, notched his third straight game of at least 40 points—a first in his career.
Klay Thompson added 23 points and Jonas Jerebko produced 16 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Warriors erased a double-digit deficit only to come up short.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook celebrated another triple-double milestone and an NBA victory Wednesday, while Houston star James Harden’s first triple-double of the season spelled only frustration in a loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
Westbrook’s 23 points, 19 rebounds and 15 assists propelled the Thunder to a 100-83 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
With the 107th triple-double of his career Westbrook tied for third on the all-time list with Jason Kidd, the former Dallas Mavericks star who needed 1,247 games to reach 107 while Westbrook reached the mark in just 760 games.
Westbrook, who seized the single-season record for triple-doubles from Oscar Robertson with 42 in the 2016-17 campaign, remains a long way from Robertson’s record career total of 181.
Former Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson is second on the list with 138.
Westbrook said he continues to relish every opportunity to chase the greats who came before him, saying the triple-doubles—the achievement of double-digit totals in three key statistical categories—are something to celebrate “as long as we win.”
For Harden, a superb all-around effort of 25 points, 17 assists and 11 rebounds – along with six steals – wasn’t enough in a 128-108 home loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
Dallas took full advantage of the injury absence of Houston point guard Chris Paul, leading by as many as 21 in the third quarter before the Rockets cut the deficit to five late in the period.
Dallas, who had 20 points each from rookie Luka Doncic and reserve Devin Harris, opened the fourth quarter on a 10-2 scoring run to regain full control.
The Mavericks notched just their second road win of the season while the Rockets, who led the league with 65 victories last season, endured a fourth straight defeat.
“It’s really good,” said Harris. “We haven’t really had too much success against this team in the last couple of years. We haven’t really been playing well on the road this year. So it’s good to get a win and play the way we did tonight.”
The Los Angeles Clippers, the surprising Western Conference leaders, survived 21 turnovers to beat the Phoenix Suns 115-99.
– Antetokounmpo leads Bucks –
The Bucks won a close one in Milwaukee, where Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 36 points with 11 rebounds and eight assists and Khris Middleton drained a three-pointer with 5.2 seconds remaining to secure the hosts’ 116-113 victory.
The Bulls were unable to corral two loose balls just prior to Middleton’s shot, and Justin Holiday missed a potential game-tying three-pointer just before the buzzer.
The Portland Trail Blazers edged the Orlando Magic 115-112, aided by a franchise record and career-best 10 three-pointers from Damian Lillard.
After Kyle Lowry’s three-pointer with 56 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter put the Raptors up 119-113, Durant responded with two three-pointers, knotting the score at 119-119 with nine seconds left.
Coming out of a time out, the Raptors were unable to get a shot off before the final buzzer and it went to overtime.
Danny Green’s three-pointer with 2:07 in the extra session put Toronto up 126-123 and the Warriors wouldn’t get the deficit below three points from there — the Raptors stretching their lead when Lowry came up with a steal from Andre Iguodala and benefitting again when Iguodala was whistled for travelling.