NBA roundup: Russell Westbrook’s 42 points and strong finish leads Thunder to win

Russell Westbrook scored 19 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Thunder to a 105-99 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday in Oklahoma City.

Westbrook also had eight assists and four rebounds in his eighth 40-point performance of the season. Victor Oladipo added 24 points and 13 boards, helping Oklahoma City (30-22) move to within a half-game of idle Memphis for sixth in the Western Conference.

Damian Lillard had 29 points and seven rebounds for Portland (22-30), which has dropped three of four. C.J. McCollum finished with 19 points and eight boards.

Westbrook punctuated his big day with a three-pointer with 1:18 remaining, lifting Oklahoma City to a 100-93 lead. He capped it off by hitting five free throws in the final minute as the crowd chanted “MVP! MVP!”

After scoring 19 points in the fourth quarter to spark a 114-102 comeback victory over Memphis on Friday, Westbrook again rallied the Thunder when they needed him most, scoring 12 points in the third quarter and 19 more in the fourth.

Toronto 103, at Brooklyn 95: Kyle Lowry played through illness and injury to finish with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his ninth career triple-double in the Raptors’ road victory.

Playing again without leading scorer DeMar DeRozan, the slumping Raptors ended a two-game skid and won for just the third time in 11 games. Jonas Valanciunas led them with 22 points.

Already feeling ill, Lowry needed four stitches after cutting his right forearm on a camera mounted to the basket stanchion. But he played 40 minutes without much backup support, with Fred VanVleet shooting 2 for 10 from the field and Cory Joseph not playing at all.

Terrence Ross had 17 points for the Raptors, who swept the season series and extended their longest winning streak ever against the Nets to eight.

Brook Lopez scored 20 for the Nets, who have lost nine in a row overall and 12 straight at home, where they haven’t won in 2017.