DENVER — Russell Westbrook capped his record-setting 42nd triple-double with a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 106-105 on Sunday.
Westbrook ended his historic day with a 36-foot dagger to finish with 50 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists to pass Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson for most triple-doubles in an NBA season. The guard scored the Thunder’s last 13 points to eliminate the Nuggets from playoff contention.
Danilo Gallinari had a season-high 34 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Nikola Jokic scored 23 points for Denver.
The Nuggets (38-42) needed to win their last three games and hope the Portland Trail Blazers dropped their last two, but instead Denver took a second heartbreaking loss to the Thunder this season. Oklahoma City rallied from nine down late to beat the Nuggets in overtime on Nov. 25.
Hawks 126, Cavaliers 125 (OT)
ATLANTA — Atlanta topped Friday’s stunning short-handed victory in Cleveland with a 26-point fourth-quarter comeback to shock the Cavaliers in overtime.
It was just the third time in NBA history that a team overcame a deficit of 26 or more points in the fourth quarter and won. Cleveland led 93-67 after the third quarter, but the Hawks outscored the Cavaliers 44-18 in the fourth and tied it at 111 on Paul Millsap’s short jumper at the buzzer after Atlanta won a jump ball.
The Cavaliers lost despite getting 45 points from Kyrie Irving, who made 8 of 12 3-point attempts, and 32 points from LeBron James. The loss dropped the Cavaliers (51-29) into a tie with Boston for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, although Cleveland owns the tiebreaker. Both teams have two games remaining.
Raptors 110, Knicks 97
NEW YORK — DeMar DeRozan scored 35 points to become the second player in team history to reach 2,000 points in a season as Toronto reached 50 wins and secured at least the third seed in the Eastern Conference by beating New York.
DeRozan joined Vince Carter as the second Raptor to get at least 2,000 points when he converted a nifty three-point play with 3:11 left in the first quarter. Carter holds the record of 2,107 points in 1999-2000, and also totaled 2,070 in the following season.
The Raptors secured their second straight 50-win season when they scored 12 straight points in a span of about three minutes to open a 100-82 lead with 5:05 to play. Rookie Willy Hernangomez tied a career high with 24 points but none were in the fourth for the Knicks, who were playing without Kristaps Porzingis (back) and Carmelo Anthony (knee).