Chicago Bulls guard E'Twaun Moore watches his game winning three-point shot go in as does Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell WestbrookDavid Banks/The Associated Press
E'Twaun Moore finished off Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Moore hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left and the Chicago Bulls rallied to beat the Thunder 108-105 on Thursday night, ending Westbrook's triple-double streak at four.
After Moore's 3 put the Bulls up 107-105, Westbrook stepped out of bounds after taking the inbounds pass, not seeing that Serge Ibaka was open for a potential tying shot.
"Just trying to get a good shot. I should have passed to Serge," Westbrook said. "That was a bad decision on my part. He was open and I should have hit him."
Westbrook had 43 points on 14-of-32 shooting and added seven assists and eight rebounds. On Wednesday night in Oklahoma City, he had career highs with 49 points and 16 rebounds and added 10 assists in an overtime victory over Philadelphia.
Westbrook was the first player to have four straight triple-doubles since Michael Jordan had seven in a row in 1989. The All-Star MVP scored at least 40 points for the third straight game. Westbrook wore a mask and a headband for the second straight game after fracturing a bone in his right cheek Friday night in Portland. He had surgery Saturday and sat out Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Ibaka had 25 points and nine rebounds for Oklahoma City.
"He's not happy that he scored a bunch of points and got a bunch of rebounds and assists and we lost the game," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "Russell is about winning and about winning only."
Westbrook scored 19 points in the third quarter to help the Thunder take a 79-72 lead into the fourth. He split two free throws with 1:07 to play, and Enes Kanter rebounded the miss and scored to give Oklahoma City a 103-99 lead.
Mirotic made a 3-pointer, and Westbrook hit a jumper with 37.1 seconds left. Mirotic made two free throws with 28.9 to go, pulling Chicago within one. Westbrook then had an air-ball with the shot-clock expiring, and Moore followed with his 3-pointer that gave the Bulls the lead.
"The way E'Twaun competed on every play, that goes a long way," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said about Moore, one of numerous Bulls who guarded Westbrook. "I thought we had a number of guys step up."
Moore got the chance to hit the 3 after Pau Gasol got the ball and the defence collapsed on him in the post. Instead of forcing a shot, Gasol read the play and sent it back out to Moore for the winner.
"I was aware of the time management," Moore said. "I knew we only had four seconds (when the play started) and if he kicked it out, I knew there's not much time left. I just shot it with confidence."
Mirotic finished with 26 points, Gasol had 21 points and 12 rebounds, Mike Dunleavy also had 21 points, and Moore added a career-high 19. Joakim Noah had 12 rebounds, putting him over 5,000 for his career.
Playing without former MVP Derrick Rose (right knee) and All-Star Jimmy Butler (left elbow), Chicago ended its season-high seven-game homestand 5-2, winning a game that clearly meant a lot to the Bulls.
"It was great," a beaming Noah said. "That felt so good. It felt really good."
Despite another star performance for Westbrook it didn't end as well for Oklahoma City after it led by 16 in the first half.
"We've got to close out better," Westbrook said. "That's my job."
TRAIL BLAZERS 94, MAVERICKS 75
PORTLAND – The mood was sombre in the Trail Blazers' locker room following their victory over the Dallas Mavericks. The win had come at a cost, with Wesley Matthews lost for the season because of a ruptured Achilles tendon.
"I make that same cut a hundreds of thousands of times in my life," Matthews said. "I felt the initial pop. And you guys could probably tell on the replay. I looked back – it feels like someone's kicked you. I was praying. I was praying someone was back there."
LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and 12 rebounds and the Blazers pulled away in the second half for a 94-75 victory for their fifth straight victory.
But shortly after came the news about Matthews, who had started every game this season. Matthews was averaging 16.1 points and 3.7 rebounds for the Blazers going into the game.
"It's tough, man. He's the heart and soul of this team, he brings a lot to this team," Aldridge said. "I've played with him seven, eight years now, so not having him out there is going to be tough."
Nicolas Batum added 15 points and a season-high 12 rebounds for Portland, which had four players in double figures despite coming off back-to-back games.
Monta Ellis and Amare Stoudemire each had 12 points for the Mavericks, who saw the return of veteran centre Tyson Chandler after a three-game absence.
Chandler, who was out with a left hip injury, finished with four points and 14 rebounds.
"This is a difficult matchup, period," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "We've got to stick together when it's not going well. We've got to fight through this."
The Mavericks remained without Chandler Parsons, who continues to nurse a left ankle injury that has kept him out of six games so far and should also cause him to miss Friday night's matchup against the Warriors.
However, the Mavericks said he could make his return Sunday when the team visits the Lakers. In his absence, Dallas continued to lean on veteran Richard Jefferson.
Portland went up 80-63 on Alonzo Gee's fourth-quarter dunk and Dallas could not catch up. The Blazers were coming off a come-from-behind 98-93 overtime victory against the Clippers in Los Angeles the night before.
"Our defence throughout the game was locked in as far as what we wanted to accomplish individually and collectively," coach Terry Stotts said about the game. "The defence really spurred our offence in the third quarter and helped us build a lead."
The teams had kept close throughout the first half. Dallas went ahead 23-17 late in the first quarter on Devin Harris' short jumper, but couldn't extend the margin. Charlie Villanueva's put-back layup gave the Mavericks a 33-28 lead in the second, but Portland pulled in front 38-36 on Matthews' jumper and led 40-36 at the break.
Early in the third quarter, Matthews was helped from the court.
The game was tied at 40 when he left, and the Blazers responded with a 12-4 run capped by Batum's layup to go ahead 52-44. Portland extended the lead to 69-55 on Dorell Wright's 3-pointer.
"I thought out defence was very solid, so if we could ever get our offence going we could make things very difficult for them. But our offence never really got going," Chandler said.
Dallas was coming off a 102-93 victory at home against New Orleans, paced by Ellis with 20 points.
Portland and Dallas had split the previous two meetings this season.