MEXICO CITY -- Caris Levert scored 19 points, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 17 and short-handed Brooklyn overcame another strong performance by Russell Westbrook to beat the Oklahoma Thunder 100-95 on Thursday night in the first of the Nets' two games in Mexico City.
Westbrook had 31 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Allen Crabbe had 15 points for Brooklyn, playing without guards Jeremy Lin and D'Angelo Russell because of injuries and without power forward Trevor Booker after he was traded to Philadelphia before the game.
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The Nets improved to 10-14 with their second straight victory and third in four games. They will play the Miami Heat on Saturday at Arena Ciudad de Mexico. The Thunder (11-13) had won three in a row.
Steven Adams added 12 points for the Thunder, and Carmelo Anthony had 11 on 5-for-20 shooting. Oklahoma City also missed key players Paul George (right calf contusion) and Jerami Grant (left hip contusion) (see full recap).
Rockets pull away from Jazz for 8th straight win
SALT LAKE CITY -- James Harden scored 29 points and Ryan Anderson added 23 to lead the Houston Rockets to a 112-101 victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night.
Chris Paul added 18 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds for the Rockets. Houston (19-4) won its eighth straight game and for the 14th time in 15. The Rockets improved to 8-0 with Paul in the lineup.
NBA
Donovan Mitchell had 26 points, Alec Burks added 17 and Thabo Sefolosha chipped in 14 to lead the Jazz. Utah (13-13) dropped its second straight game.
Utah played from behind throughout much of the first half after struggling with turnovers and erratic shooting. The Jazz turned it over eight times before halftime, leading to several key baskets for the Rockets.
Houston surged in front after Rudy Gobert committed back-to-back turnovers less than 2 minutes into the first quarter. Utah rallied twice to take the lead, but both runs were answered with bigger ones from the Rockets (see full recap).
Beal scores 34 points as Wizards top Suns
PHOENIX -- Bradley Beal scored 34 points to help the Washington Wizards beat the Phoenix Suns 109-99 on Thursday night.
Two nights after scoring 51 points in a victory at Portland, Beal had 22 points in the first half.
Former Sun Markieff Morris added 21 points, and the Wizards made 51 percent of their shots. Washington has won three of four.
T.J. Warren had 23 points for Phoenix. The Suns played their first game with star guard Devin Booker sidelined with a groin injury. Booker is expected to miss two to three weeks with the left adductor strain. He was hurt Tuesday night in Toronto.
Phoenix cut Washington's lead to two at 98-96 on Alex Len's dunk with 5:46 to play. The Suns missed two chances to draw even, and Washington outscored them 11-3 the rest of the way (see full recap).