Russell Westbrook has collected 21 points, 15 assists and 13 rebounds in leading Oklahoma City to their fifth straight NBA win, 111-107 over Houston.
The speedy All-Star guard notched his 34th career triple-double and league-high 15th of the season on Tuesday, giving him the most since LA Lakers Hall of Famer Magic Johnson recorded 17 in 1988-89.
"I'm just trying to find the right way to play, to go out and compete at a high-level every night," explained Westbrook after his third straight triple-double.
"A lot of those games are big games for us to just come out with the win."
Kevin Durant scored 23 points and Dion Waiters added 17 for OKC (49-22), who move 4.5 games ahead of the idle LA Clippers for the third playoff seed in the Western Conference.
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Houston led 99-97 when Westbrook went to work.
He spotted Steven Adams for a dunk on an inbounds pass, stole the ball from James Harden and raced up the floor to throw down a ferocious two-handed dunk before burying a jumper to open up a 103-99 lead with two minutes left.
But the Rockets weren't done. Harden's 3-pointer cut the lead to 108-17 with 13.8 seconds to play.
Serge Ibaka split two free throws with 11.9 seconds left to give the Thunder a two-point lead.
On the next play, Harden lobbed a pass on the right side of the basket intended for Dwight Howard (16 points and 13 rebounds) but Waiters deflected it.
"I just wanted to get a stop and not foul," Waiters said.
"Once I saw the lob, it gave me enough time to get over there and make the deflection."
Westbrook recovered the ball, made both free throws - his 14th points of the quarter - with 3.5 seconds remaining to seal the victory.
Elsewhere, Charlotte downed Brooklyn 105-100 with Frenchman Nicolas Batum scoring 11 of his 23 points in the final 4:11.
Miami thrashed New Orleans 113-99 as Dwyane Wade helped himself to 25 points and Hassan Whiteside had 24 with 14 rebounds.
LA Lakers got Memphis 107-100 with Jordan Clarkson racking up 22 points and Kobe Bryant collecting 17 of his 20 in the second half.
The win over the Grizzlies means the West-worst Lakers (15-55) have halted a four-game slide.
