‘I believe we’re the best team’ says Westbrook after Thunder with clash of titans with Spurs

SAN ANTONIO, United States // Russell Westbrook says there’s no question Oklahoma City is the league’s best team.

He backed up his words Saturday night by leading the Thunder to a dominant victory in a place few visiting teams have had success.

Westbrook had 31 points and eight assists and Oklahoma City used a strong second quarter to beat the San Antonio Spurs 113-100 for their ninth straight victory.

“We got the best record in the league; I believe we’re the best team in the league regardless of who says this and who says that,” Westbrook said. “You have to go out and play. You can predict anything, but you have to play the game.”

The Thunder outscored the Spurs 40-29 in the second quarter to hand San Antonio only their second home loss this season.

“It was one of our best scoring quarters,” Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. “Not sure we have even had a 40-point quarter this season, but we moved the ball well and made shots. Both teams are hard to guard and both teams can score points. We got hot there in the second.”

Tony Parker had 23 points and eight assists in his return from a two-game absence due to a bruised shin, but Kawhi Leonard was a late scratch following a dental procedure.

Even though they were without their best defender on the wing, San Antonio said Leonard’s absence had little to do with the loss.

“Well, I’m sure we’d like to have Kawhi, but that happens to every NBA team at some point in the season,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “You don’t lose just because of that. We would have loved to have had him, but they played better than we did tonight for more of the game.”

Kevin Durant, whom Leonard would have defended, only had 17 points while going 6-for-14 from the field.

Instead, it was Westbrook and reserve guard Reggie Jackson who proved difficult to stop.

Jackson had 21 points, four assists and only one turnover in 30 minutes.

“This is the second game he’s been playing good against us,” Parker said. “We have to find a solution for him. Westbrook and Durant, they are going to score and take a lot of shots, but we can’t let Jackson score that much. That’s two games in a row that I felt he’s the one that hurt us the most.”

Westbrook and Jackson were a combined 21-for-36 and handed out 12 assists.

Playing their seventh game in 10 days, the Spurs looked lethargic after a strong start.

The Thunder never trailed after Jackson’s reverse layup put them up 21-19 with a minute remaining in the first quarter. Jackson had 10 points in the quarter.

“Once we move the ball the way we did tonight, everybody touches it, we’re a pretty good team,” Durant said. “Once (the ball) gets sticky and try to play one-on-one, that’s when we kind of struggle. Russell is doing a great job of getting everybody involved and picking and choosing his spots; when to score.”

The Spurs had won six of seven entering Saturday’s game, but couldn’t recover from the second-quarter pasting.

“They made a lot of shots, you have to give them credit,” Parker said. “I thought overall we played well, but they just played better.”

The Spurs committed five turnovers while taking only 17 shots in the period, which was one less than the Thunder made.

San Antonio were 20-for-49 in the paint, continually missing layups.

“That was tough,” Parker said. “We couldn’t get a lead. We were playing well, we made some stops, but we missed a lot of layups, that’s basketball.”

The Spurs pulled within a pair of baskets on several occasions in the second half, but the Thunder responded with a small run each time.

Jackson was usually at the forefront of the runs, going 8-for-14.

“I just told the guys to keep inspiring each other on the defensive end,” Brooks said. “I told them to help their teammates out when they needed help and I felt they did that extremely well tonight. We have improved in that area for the past few years, but tonight was really good.”

OTHER SATURDAY RESULTS

Wizards 106, Celtics 99

The Washington Wizards erased an 18-point first-half deficit and rallied again in the fourth quarter to defeat the Boston Celtics.

Guard John Wall and forward Trevor Ariza powered a 16-2 run down the stretch that gave the Wizards their third straight victory, all on the road, and ended their seven-game overall and four-game road losing streaks against Boston.

Grizzlies 95, Knicks 87

The Memphis Grizzlies halted a five-game losing streak when they beat the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Power forward Zach Randolph topped Memphis (11-15) with 25 points and 15 rebounds as New York’s home woes continued.

The Knicks are 4-9 at Madison Square Garden after going 31-10 at home last season.

Kings 105, Magic 100

Recently acquired guard Rudy Gay scored 23 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, to lead the Sacramento Kings to victory over the Orlando Magic.

The Kings (8-18) won the final game of a four-game road trip that included losses to Charlotte, Atlanta and Miami.

Rockets 114, Pistons 97

Center Dwight Howard scored a season-high 35 points and grabbed 19 rebounds as the shorthanded Houston Rockets bounced back from their worst loss of the season with a thumping of the Detroit Pistons.

The Rockets were coming off a 33-point loss to Indiana.

Bulls 100, Cavaliers 84

The Chicago Bulls scored 100 points for the first time in nine games and cruised to a home victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Forward Carlos Boozer led six players in double figures with 19 points as the Bulls (10-16) shot 53.6 percent and knocked down 10-of-15 attempts from three-point range.

Jazz 88, Bobcats 85

Guard Trey Burke scored 20 points and hit two free throws with 10.2 seconds left as the Utah Jazz beat the Charlotte Bobcats on the road.

The Jazz, who entered the game with the worst record in the NBA, won for just the eighth time this season.

Charlotte guards Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson missed three-point attempts in the final 10 seconds.

Bucks 116, 76ers 106

Forward Khris Middleton scored 27 points as the Milwaukee Bucks snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Middleton did much of his damage in the second half when he scored 20 of his points on 8 of 10 shooting.

Suns 123, Mavericks 108

Guard Eric Bledsoe scored a game-high 25 points and guard Gerald Green had 22 points as the Phoenix Suns rang up their seventh win in their last eight games with a home victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Phoenix set a season high for points and margin of victory and followed Friday night’s rally from a 21-point deficit in Denver.

Trail Blazers 110, Pelicans 107

Damian Lillard scored 29 points on 11-of-21 shooting as Portland (23-5) narrowly topped New Orleans (11-14). Nicolas Batum added 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists without committing a turnover for the Blazers.

Anthony Davis provided 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, nine rebounds and two blocks for the Pelicans in the losing effort.

Clippers 112, Nuggets 91

Jamal Crawford dropped 27 points to lead Los Angeles (19-9) in a comfortable win over Denver (14-12).

Chris Paul had only 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting but provided 111 assists while Blake Griffin contributed 24 points and 16 rebounds for the Clippers.

The Nuggets struggled with their shooting, going just 31-for-88 as a team. Wilson Chandler’s 19 points, shooting 8-for-15, led the squad.

Warriors 102, Lakers 83

Erratic Golden State (15-13) cruised past the Kobe Bryant-less Lakers (13-14) despite guard combo Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combining for just 10-of-30 shooting. Andre Iguodala, continuing to return from a hamstring injury, also struggled with his shot, going 1-for-6.

Andrew Bogut had a banner defensive effort for the Warriors, though, pulling down 20 rebounds and blocking a pair of shots while adding 12 points. David Lee also provided a double-double, with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Los Angeles were led by Chris Kaman, who had 10 points and 17 rebounds of his own opposite Bogut.