The Oklahoma City Thunder has claimed its first win of their playoff series against the Houston Rockets with a 115-113 win at Chesapeake Arena on Saturday (NZ time).
Led by Russell Westbrook, the Thunder had to hold off a late Rockets onslaught to claim the much-needed win.
Westbrook finished with 32 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists to become the first player with a triple-double in back-to-back games of a playoff series since Jason Kidd in 2002.
Steven Adams had a quiet night with four points and six rebounds, but the Kiwi came on late in the fourth quarter and hit a clutch shot to secure the win.
MVP candidate James Harden finished with 44 points, six rebounds and six assist for the Rockets, while Lou Williams scored 22 off the bench.
The Thunder came out firing and took an early 15-point lead, but the Rockets clawed back late in the first half as the Thunder took a 65-58 lead at halftime behind 62.2 percent shooting.
Houston scored the first nine points of the second half, including six from Harden, to go up 67-65, but the Thunder regained momentum and took a 10 point lead into the fourth.
Houston continued to close the gap and eventually tied the game up at 111 with 35 seconds remaining.
But Adams ended up scoring the last basket of the game with a tip-in off a missed Westbrook three-point attempt.
The Rockets lead the best-of-seven series 2-1. Game four of the series is on Monday in Oklahoma (NZT).
Newshub.