Russell Westbrook had his 14th triple-double of the season and his third straight 40-point game, scoring 45 points with 11 assists and 11 rebounds on Friday night to lead visiting Oklahoma City to a 117-112 victory over Boston.
Westbrook scored the last seven points of the first half after and Oklahoma City's last 15 in the game, including eight straight during a 10-0 run that gave the Thunder the lead for good.
"It's important for me to know how to close games," Westbrook said. "All the best players figure out how to close games."
Rookie Domantas Sabonis finished with 20 points for Oklahoma City, which had lost three of its previous five games. Enes Kanter had 20 points off the bench.
Isaiah Thomas had 34 points and 10 assists and Al Horford scored 23 points for Boston, which had won a season-high four straight games.
Westbrook didn't make his first basket until 4 minutes into the second quarter. But he soon hit another layup, made a three-pointer a few minutes later and really turned it on in the final minute of the half.
"We've got really good defenders on him and he made great plays," Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. "I don't know what to say other than 'Hats off to him' for plays he made."
Dallas 90, L.A. Clippers 88: Harrison Barnes made a 10-foot running jumper with 3.7 seconds left for the last of his team-high 24 points to give the visiting Mavericks the victory over the Clippers. Dirk Nowitzki, playing only in the first half in his return from an Achilles' strain after missing 14 games, added 17 points. Jamal Crawford scored 26 points for the Clippers, who were playing without both of their stars, Chris Paul (hamstring) and Blake Griffin (knee).
