Russell Westbrook returned to the Oklahoma City Thunder lineup Sunday night, helping the Thunder to a 103-96 victory over the Phoenix Suns.
Westbrook had an up-and-down return, scoring 21 points and handing out seven assists while shooting 5-of-16 and turning the ball over four times. However, while the point guard was certainly a bit rusty, he displayed some of his explosive athleticism:
Westbrook also came up big in the clutch, scoring eight points and dishing out three assists in the fourth quarter.
Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 33 points and 10 rebounds. Reggie Jackson, back in his reserve role behind Westbrook, added 10 points and five assists.
Eric Bledsoe had a big game for the Suns in the loss, putting up 26 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds. On the negative side, Bledsoe had eight of the Suns' 23 turnovers, and Goran Dragic left the game with a sprained ankle.
Minnesota Timberwolves 109, New York Knicks 100: Kevin Love had 34 points, 15 rebounds and five assists to lead the Timberwolves to victory at Madison Square Garden. Love also got a little love from Spike Lee:
Early on, it looked like the Wolves were going to blow the Knicks out of the building, opening up a 40-19 lead after the first quarter. New York made it a game, however, and they even drew within two points midway through the fourth quarter.
But the Wolves closed the game on a 9-2 run, moving to 3-0 on the young season in the process. Kevin Martin added 30 points on 12 shots in the victory.
Miami Heat 103, Washington Wizards 93: All three members of the Big Three scored at least 20 points, leading the Heat to a relatively easy victory over Washington. LeBron James led the way with 25 points, while Chris Bosh had 24 and Dwyane Wade had 20.
Miami entered the game under .500 for just the second time in the Big Three era, but for most of the night, they looked like the team that has won the last two championships. The Heat opened up a 23-point lead heading into the fourth quarter and cruised to victory.
LeBron also did this (via @CoupNBA):
Nasty.
Orlando Magic 107, Brooklyn Nets 86: File this one in the "Unexpected Results" folder. The rebuilding Magic delivered a beat down to the Nets behind a balanced scoring effort led by rookie Victor Oladipo and Nikola Vucevic.
Oladipo had 19 points, six rebounds and four assists off the bench, and he also displayed some of his breathtaking athleticism on this dunk:
Five other Magic players scored in double figures, with Vucevic and Andrew Nicholson both notching double-doubles.
Brook Lopez had 21 points to lead Brooklyn. The Nets shot just 38.2 percent in Jason Kidd's coaching debut.
Detroit Pistons 87, Boston Celtics 77: Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe both had double-doubles to lead the Pistons past the Celtics.
Drummond, Monroe and Josh Smith all had 15 points, while Brandon Jennings had 14 points off the bench in his Pistons debut. Detroit dominated in the paint, scoring 54 points to just 38 for Boston.
Rookie Kelly Olynyk had 15 points and eight rebounds off the bench to lead Boston. Avery Bradley and Jordan Crawford were the only other two Celtics to score in double-digits.
Los Angeles Lakers 105, Atlanta Hawks 103: Pau Gasol hit two free throws with just under six seconds left to put the Lakers ahead, and then the Spaniard proceeded to block Kyle Korver's desperation shot to help seal the victory.
Gasol struggled with his shot for most of the night, going just 5-of-18 from the field. But he came up big in the clutch, and he did notch a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Xavier Henry led the Lakers with 18 points.
The Lakers withstood a huge effort from Korver, who brought the Hawks back with an incredible shooting display. Korver had 22 points on the night and hit all six of this three-pointers, helping erase a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit before falling just short.
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