Westbrook's triple-double leads Thunder past Hawks
ATLANTA -- Russell Westbrook's triple-double streak continued Monday night, as did the team streaks of the Oklahoma Thunder and Atlanta Hawks.
Westbrook had 32 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists as Oklahoma City won 102-99 to stretch its winning streak to six and extend the Hawks' stretch of losses to seven.
It was the sixth consecutive triple-double by Westbrook and his 11th of the season in 22 games. The streak is the longest in the NBA since Michael Jordan did it over seven consecutive games in 1989.
The Hawks, who had lost their previous two games by 36 and 44 points, cut a 15-point lead to 90-87 midway the fourth quarter, but Westbrook scored seven straight points in a key stretch and the Thunder (14-8) held on after their star made two free throws with 1:18 remaining.
The Hawks (10-12) had a chance to tie with a 3-pointer after getting the ball with 9.6 seconds remaining, but Tim Hardaway Jr. missed on a long shot at the buzzer.
Paul Millsap, returning for the Hawks after missing three games with a hip injury, scored 24 points, Dennis Schroder had 17 points and eight assists, and Kyle Korver came off the bench to score 15 points.
Anthony Morrow had 15 points and Victor Oladipo scored 14 for the Thunder, who got 12 points and 10 rebounds from Steven Adams.
Shaking off a cold shooting start, Westbrook had 16 points in the second quarter as the Thunder outscored the Hawks 28-15 to lead by 83-69. He was 7-for-8 shooting in the period, his only miss from the floor coming on one of his four 3-point attempts.
Westbrook, who has 48 triple-doubles in his career, helped the Thunder pull away after leading by just a point at halftime when the Hawks closed the second quarter on a 10-1 run to make it 55-54.
Westbrook was 1 for 7 from the floor in the first half and had just five points to go with his eight assists and seven rebounds. Adams had 10 of his 12 first-half points in the second quarter.
Millsap had seven points in each of the first two quarters in his return to match Adams' total and Korver scored all 10 of his first-half points in the second period, hitting both of his 3-point attempts and 4 of 5 shots overall.
There were 23 combined turnovers in a first half that was most memorable for a thunderous dunk by Oladipo over Dwight Howard, who had no points and three fouls at the break.
Howard finished with six points and seven rebounds.
NOTES: F Paul Millsap's return after missing three games with a strained left hip wasn't the only lineup change for the Hawks. F/G Thabo Sefolosha started instead of F/G Kyle Korver. Coach Mike Budenholzer said the change wasn't temporary. "I think Kyle can be really effective off the bench," Budenholzer said before the game. "I think it will be beneficial for both of them and us." ... Thunder C Steven Adams started despite spraining his left ankle in the first quarter of Sunday's victory over New Orleans and missing the rest of the game. "They got ahead of it (with treatment)," coach Billy Donovan said. "Having it happen early (in the game) probably helped." ... The Hawks will host Miami on Wednesday in just their fourth home game of 12 overall so far this season. ... The Thunder are off until a home game with Houston on Friday.