Westbrook pours in 42

LOS ANGELES - Russell Westbrook scored a team-high 42 points, including 11 consecutive in the final five minutes, and reserve guard Alex Abrines scored 18 points to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 121-110 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans Wednesday at the Smoothie King Center. Westbrook, the NBA’s leading scorer, added 10 rebounds and seven assists and fell short of his 51 triple-double of the season. The Thunder (17-12), who had lost three of four games coming in, also got 14 points and 14 rebounds from center Enes Kanter. The Pelicans (10-21) were led by Anthony Davis, who scored 34 points and had 15 rebounds, and by Jrue Holiday with a season-high 23 points. Tyreke Evans cut the Oklahoma City lead to 89-87 with a 3-pointer from the right wing, but the Thunder then went on an 11-0 spurt, fueled by reserve guard Alex Abrines’ nine points that included two 3-pointers. Abrines added another long-range jumper and Oklahoma City led 105-89 with 8:04 left. Abrines finished 5 of 10 from long range. Cavaliers 113, Bucks 102 Kyrie Irving scored 31 points and passed for a career-high 13 assists, and LeBron James had 29 points and nine rebounds to lead Cleveland to its second win over Milwaukee in 24 hours. The victory came a day after the Cavaliers needed overtime to edge the Bucks 114-108 in Milwaukee and it came with Kevin Love again sidelined by a sore knee and guard J.R. Smith sidelined by a broken thumb that saw him exit Tuesday’s contest. Rockets 125, Suns 111 James Harden had 27 points and 14 assists and made five of Houston’s 18 3-pointers to help the Rockets recover from their first December loss. Eric Gordon had 24 points and made 7 of 13 3-pointers. Forward Ryan Anderson had 15 points and three 3-pointers for the Rockets. Mavericks 96, Trail Blazers 95 Damian Lillard’s 3-point attempt bounced off the rim at the buzzer and Dallas escaped with a victory over Portland. Lillard scored 24 of his 29 points in the second half as the Trail Blazers rallied from a 24-point halftime deficit. Allen Crabbe came off the bench for 14 points for Portland, which lost its fourth straight game and eighth in the last nine contests. Grizzlies 98, Pistons 86 Marc Gasol tied his career high with 38 points and Memphis snapped a three-game losing streak. The veteran center made 14 of 17 shots from the field and 8 of 11 free throws. He added five rebounds and four assists. Gasol had a 38-point game against New Orleans last year. Timberwolves 92, Hawks 84 Karl-Anthony Towns, taking advantage of the absence of Dwight Howard, had 17 points and 17 rebounds as Minnesota defeated Atlanta for its first consecutive victories this season. Andrew Wiggins scored 19 points and Zach LaVine had 17 points for Minnesota as the Timberwolves followed a home victory on Monday against Phoenix. Kings 94, Jazz 93 DeMarcus Cousins had 21 points and eight rebounds and hit several key free throws in the final minute to rally Sacramento over Utah. Wizards 107, Bulls 97 John Wall scored 23 points and Bradley Beal had 21, and Washington beat Chicago at the United Center. - Agencies