Bender’s big second half helps Suns defeat Thunder, 114-100
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) shoots over Oklahoma City Thunder forward Carmelo Anthony in the second half of their NBA game on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018, in Phoenix.
/AP
Phoenix— Dragan Bender scored 17 of his career-high 20 points in the second half, rookie Josh Jackson had 17 points and 10 rebounds in his first career double-double, and the Phoenix reserves helped the Suns beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 114-100 on Sunday night.
Bender made a career-best six 3-pointers, going 5 of 6 in the second half. The Suns beat the Thunder for the third straight time dating to last season, with all three wins coming in Phoenix.
Russell Westbrook had his 14th triple-double of the season and second in a row with 26 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, but Oklahoma City never led after the first quarter. Paul George added 19 points and Steven Adams 18 for the Thunder.
Devin Booker scored 26 and T.J. Warren 23 for Phoenix.
TRAIL BLAZERS 111, SPURS 110
In Portland CJ McCollum hit a floater with 5.9 seconds left to give Portland a victory over San Antonio with both teams short-handed.
McCollum finished with 25 points and Maurice Harkless added 19 off the bench for the Blazers, who were without starter Damian Lillard. It was Portland’s fifth win in seven games, and third straight victory at home.
Former Blazer LaMarcus Aldridge had 30 points and 14 rebounds, while Manu Ginobili added 26 points, including six 3-pointers, for the Spurs.
HEAT 103,
JAZZ 102
In Miami, Josh Richardson’s layup with 5.1 seconds left capped a Miami rally from eight points down in the fourth, Donovan Mitchell missed what would have been the winner at the buzzer and the Heat beat Utah.
Tyler Johnson and Goran Dragic each scored 16 points for Miami, which has won four straight — all by single digits, the Heat’s longest stretch of such games since November 2012.
Richardson and Hassan Whiteside each had 14 points, and Kelly Olynyk had 12.
Mitchell scored 19 of his 27 points in the second half, but couldn’t save Utah from dropping its seventh straight on the road. He went into the backcourt to take the final inbounds pass and wound up taking a jumper from the right side that missed as time expired.
KNICKS 100,
MAVERICKS 96
In Dallas, Kristaps Porzingis scored 29 points and Jarrett Jack made the tiebreaking basket with 31.2 seconds left as New York beat Dallas.
Kyle O’Quinn had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Enes Kanter added 13 points and 18 boards for the Knicks, who ended a three-game losing streak and sent the Mavericks to their third straight loss — all at home.
Harrison Barnes scored 25 points and Devin Harris had nine of his 11 in the fourth quarter as the Mavericks made yet another rally on the night they honored their long-time point guard Derek Harper by retiring his jersey.
LAKERS 132,
HAWKS 113
Over at Los Angeles, Brandon Ingram had 20 points and seven assists, and Los Angeles snapped a nine-game losing streak with a victory over Atlanta.
Julius Randle had 15 points and nine rebounds in this sixth straight start, while Lonzo Ball finished with 13 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.
Dennis Schroder led the Hawks with 27 points on 10-of-23 shooting. Kent Bazemore and John Collins added 15 points apiece.
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