Russell Westbrook had 36 points, 11 rebounds and six assists as the Oklahoma City Thunder held off the Chicago Bulls 109-100 on Sunday.
The win took Oklahoma City one game clear of the New Orleans Pelicans in the battle for the final playoff place in the NBA's Western Conference, after the Pelicans were upset by the suddenly resurgent Denver Nuggets.
Try as they might the under-manned Bulls, still without guards Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose couldn't match it with the Thunder as Westbrook once again delivered a virtuoso performance.
The win and New Orleans' surprise 118-111 overtime loss, despite 36 points from Anthony Davis giving the Thunder some breathing space.
While it was a welcome result for the Thunder, it was far from a welcome return to the court for LA Clippers forward Blake Griffin.
Griffin, who has been out injured in recent weeks played 40 minutes of gametime to score 11 points and grab 11 rebounds, but it wasn't enough as a James Harden-inspired Houston Rockets clipped LA's wings 100-98.
In Orlando, Cleveland guard Kyrie Irving, fresh from a NBA season-high 57-point game kept his hot form rolling dropping 33 points to go with the enigmatic J.R. Smith's 25.
LeBron James finished with 21 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds to help the Cavaliers win their fourth straight and sixth in seven games.
In Los Angeles, Dennis Schroder had 24 points and 10 assists, and Al Horford scored 21 points as the Atlanta Hawks beat the Lakers 91-86.
Atlanta's Kyle Korver left with a broken nose after taking an offensive foul from Ed Davis with 8:59 left in the first half. The injury ended a streak of 51 consecutive games with a 3-pointer by Korver, who missed both of his shots from behind the arc.
In what is hopefully a sign of things to come Patty Mills got 17 minutes and scored seven points for San Antonio as they dominated Minnesota 123-97 to keep the pressure on Portland and Houston in the battle for a top-four seed in the west.
In other games the Portland Trail Blazers downed the Toronto Raptors 113-97 and the Phoenix Suns defeated the New York Knicks 102-89.
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