LOS ANGELES, Jan 28, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Paul George scored 36 points and pulled down 13 rebounds and Russell Westbrook notched his 16th triple-double of the season Sunday in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 118-112 NBA victory over the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks.
Westbrook scored 13 points, pulled down 13 rebounds and handed out 11 assists and the Thunder put the brakes on Milwaukee’s Most Valuable Player candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo to post a fifth straight win.
Oklahoma City led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter.
Milwaukee closed to within three with 1:09 left in the game, but George answered Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe’s three-pointer with his own from beyond the arc to push the Thunder’s lead back to 113-107 and contributed two of the free throws that Oklahoma City used to seal the game.
Antetokounmpo finished with 27 points and 18 rebounds and Khris Middleton added 22 points for the Bucks, who saw their six-game winning streak end.
The NBA-worst Cleveland Cavaliers snapped a six-game skid with a 104-101 victory over the Chicago Bulls.
The game came down to the final possession, with Bulls guard Zach LaVine’s three-point attempt over Cedi Osman bouncing off the rim at the buzzer.
The Cavs limited the Bulls to one basket from the field in the final 3:50 as they clung on for the win.
“We haven’t been in that situation often, but when we do get there, it’s important moving forward that we learn how to play down the stretch, we learn how to execute, how to defensively get the stops that we need,” Cavaliers head coach Larry Drew said. “Certainly any time you do that on the road it makes it that much sweeter.”
Alec Burks and Jordan Clarkson scored 18 points apiece for the Cavs. Aussie guard Matthew Dellavedova added 16 off the bench and Rodney Hood added 14.
Burks’s basket with 17 seconds remaining put Cleveland ahead 102-101 and after the Bulls came up empty on their ensuing possession Dellavedova hit two free throws to cap the scoring.