A memorable milestone for the reigning MVP

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ATLANTA -- Russell Westbrook picked up the 100th triple-double of his career and the Oklahoma City Thunder used a 16-0 run late in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Atlanta Hawks for a 119-107 victory Tuesday night.

Westbrook scored 32 points, dished out 12 assists and grabbed 12 rebounds to become the third-fastest player to reach the milestone. Only Oscar Robertson (277 games) and Magic Johnson (656) got to No. 100 quicker than Westbrook, who accomplished the feat in his 736th contest.

Westbrook trails only Robertson (181), Johnson (138) and Jason Kidd (107) on the career triple-double list.

Taurean Prince knocked down a 3-pointer to tie it at 103 with 5:15 remaining. Led by Westbrook and Jerami Grant, the Thunder dominated the rest of the way.

Westbrook scored seven points, while Grant knocked down a 3 and converted a three-point play -- both off assists by Westbrook. Carmelo Anthony capped the game-deciding run with his sixth 3-pointer of the game.

Prince led the Hawks with 25 points (see full recap).

Valanciunas, win 9th game in a row
NEW YORK -- Jonas Valanciunas had 26 points and 14 rebounds, and the Toronto Raptors won their ninth straight and 16th of 17, 116-102 over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night.

DeMar DeRozan and reserve Fred VanVleet scored 15 points apiece, and Kyle Lowry added 11 points and 11 assists for the Eastern Conference-leading Raptors, who held Brooklyn to 35 points after halftime and won a franchise record-tying seventh straight road game.

D'Angelo Russell hit his first seven shots -- all 3-pointers -- and scored 24 points in the first quarter for the Nets, who have lost 11 straight to the Raptors. Russell finished with 32 points, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson scored 19.

Toronto trailed 74-59 after Dante Cunningham's tip-in layup in the opening minutes of the second half.

But the Raptors, who own the NBA's best road record, went on a 15-0 run, capped by VanVleet's 3-pointer that made it 74-all with 6:04 left in the third quarter.

Both teams traded baskets the rest of the period. In the fourth, CJ Miles got hot and led a 14-4 run with three 3-pointers, his last one extending Toronto's lead 103-95 with 7:15 left in the game. Miles finished with 12 points.

Brooklyn got within 103-100 with 5:48 remaining. The Raptors' defense shut the Nets down the rest of the way, setting up DeRozan's streak of seven straight points that increased the lead to 110-100 with 2:27 left (see full recap).

KAT powers Timberwolves past Wizards
WASHINGTON -- Karl-Anthony Towns recovered from a shot to the mouth that left him down on the court and finished with a season-high 37 points and 10 rebounds, leading the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 116-111 victory over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night.

Towns shot 13 for 17, including making all three of his 3-point attempts, and showed no ill effects after getting knocked in the face with about a minute left in the first half.

Entering the fourth quarter in this defense-optional contest, the Wizards were ahead 90-82. The hosts stretched that to a game-high edge of 10 points, at 95-85 with 10 minutes left.

But a 20-3 run capped by an inside basket from Andrew Wiggins off Towns' assist put Minnesota up 105-98 with less than 5 minutes to go. After the Wizards got within 111-109, Towns sank a corner 3 with 29 seconds left to push the visitors' lead back up to five.

Every starter scored at least 10 points for the Timberwolves, who were coming off a victory over the Golden State Warriors in their previous game. Wiggins scored 16, and Nemanja Bjelica had 17, plus eight rebounds and seven assists.

Markieff Morris led Washington with a season-high 27 points, and Bradley Beal added 19. But when Washington had a chance to try to get a tying 3-pointer, down 114-111 and inbounding the ball with 15.8 seconds remaining, Beal -- guarded by Towns out on the perimeter -- threw a bad pass that was intercepted by Teague (see full recap).

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