Western Conference

OKC into play-off slot

The Oklahoma City Thunder (30-25) have won five consecutive games to force their way into eighth place in West. This comes, as the Phoenix Suns (29-27) have lost four in a row to fall out of the play-off berths.

Fresh off his MVP performance in winning the All-Star Game, Russell Westbrook had 33 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in the absence of Kevin Durant to guide the Thunder to a 110-103 win over Denver Nuggets (20-34). Before that, Westbrook had 34 points and 10 assists in helping to defeat the Dallas Mavericks 104-89.

Fourth-ranked Portland Trailblazers (36-18) had a tough time as the bottom-dwellers Utah Jazz (20-34) as Derrick Favors, Gordon Hayward and Trey Burke put in strong performances to pace the Jazz to a 92-76 win.

In a clash of Texan heavyweights, the Dallas Mavericks (37-20) nosed out the Houston Rockets (37-18) 111-110, with their bench coming up big to cause eight Mavericks to be in double figures for points.

In another titan clash, Golden State Warriors (43-9) dismissed the San Antonio Spurs (34-21) 110-99 with three-point champion Stephen Curry leading the way with 25 points and 11 assists. Fresh off their All-Star break, the LA Clippers (37-19) also defeated the Spurs, 119-115, with DeAndre Jordan’s 26-point, 18-rebound double-double the catalyst, before also blowing out the Sacramento Kings 126-99.

Eastern Conference

Toronto top Atlanta in giant clash

In a clash of the two top teams in the East, the Toronto Raptors (37-18) routed a leggy Atlanta Hawks team 105-80. The Hawks do still lead the Raptors by five-and-a-half games. However, on the night it was DeMar DeRozan’s 21 points that proved significant as the Hawks shot a woeful 33 per cent.

Seventh-ranked Miami Heat (23-31) made no mistakes in dispatching minnows New York Knicks (10-44) as Dwyane Wade returned from injury to ease the Heat to victory.

The Cleveland Cavaliers (34-22) thrashed the Washington Wizards (33-22) 127-89, thereby leapfrogging them into fourth, as LeBron James and Kyrie Irving combined for 55 points, with Irving also supplying seven assists.

Chicago Bulls (35-21) recovered from their loss to Detroit Pistons, with Pau Gasol putting up 22 points and 14 rebounds to repel the Suns 112-107. Derrick Rose had 16 points, while Joakim Noah grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out eight assists. Subsequent to the trade deadline passing this week, Brandon Knight was playing his first game for the Suns.

At newstime, the Cavaliers were leading the Knicks 56-33 with just over a minute to go to halftime.