Westbrook's 33rd triple-double leads Thunder past Nets
NEW YORK -- Russell Westbrook picked up his 33rd triple-double of the season and the Oklahoma City Thunder won their third game in a row, beating the Brooklyn Nets 122-104 on Tuesday night at Barclays Center.
Westbrook finished with 25 points, 19 assists and 12 rebounds, guard Victor Oladipo had 21 points and center Enes Kanter scored 17 points off the bench for the Thunder (38-29), who won on the road for the first time since a 114-105 victory over New Orleans on Jan. 25.
Center Brook Lopez scored 25 points, guard Jeremy Lin had a season-high 24 points and guard Randy Foy added 13 points for the Nets (12-54), who have yet to win consecutive games this season.
With a mix of boos and "MVP" chants, Westbrook knocked down three free throws to give the Thunder their largest lead of the game at 102-90 with 6:29 left in the fourth quarter.
The entire Barclays Center erupted, though, and gave Westbrook a standing ovation when he grabbed a defensive rebound with 4:40 left in the fourth quarter to move Westbrook to within eight of tying Oscar Robertson's NBA record of 41 triple-doubles in a season.
Led by Brooklyn-born forward Taj Gibson (17 points, eight rebounds), the Thunder went on a 10-0 run to take an early 12-5 lead, but the Nets rallied to tie the score at 32 on Trevor Booker's second 3-pointer of the opening 12 minutes with 0.5 of a second left in the first quarter.
The Thunder had their largest lead of the first half when Westbrook's 3-pointer gave them a 53-43 advantage. But the Nets went on a 10-0 run to take a 60-57 lead -- their largest of the first half -- on a powerful dunk by forward Caris LeVert (16 points) with 1:29 left in the second quarter. It capped the most productive scoring half of LeVert's rookie campaign with 12 points.
A putback by center Steven Adams sent the teams into halftime tied at 62.
The teams exchanged the lead six times early in the third quarter, but the Thunder, who beat the Nets 124-105 in Oklahoma City in the only other meeting between the teams this year on Nov. 18, surged late.
A block by forward Andre Robertson on a Spencer Dinwiddie layup attempt led to a 3-pointer in transition by guard Alex Abrines (13 points) to put Oklahoma City in front 87-78.
Foye scored five consecutive points for the Nets, but a 17-foot jumper by Kanter gave the Thunder a 91-83 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Oklahoma City outscored Brooklyn 31-21 in the fourth quarter.
NOTES: Thunder coach Billy Donovan and Nets coach Kenny Atkinson have a long history, both growing up in Long Island. "Kenny's brother Mike and I worked together for a year at Kentucky. He was an assistant coach there. I've known Kenny, his story and his career very well." ... Thunder F Taj Gibson, who is from Fort Greene, has impressed Donovan since he arrived from Chicago in a trade last month. Gibson, who is averaging 8.2 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game in nine games with Oklahoma City, was cleared to play after suffering a hip injury against Utah on Saturday. ... G Joe Harris (concussion/sprained left shoulder) was out for the Nets. G Sean Kilpatrick played seven minutes in the first half before leaving with a sore left hamstring. ... The Nets head to Manhattan to face the Knicks on Thursday. ... The Thunder remain on the road to face the Raptors on Thursday.