Thunder 123, Trail Blazers 114

A renewed focus on defense has the Oklahoma City Thunder on another winning streak.

Paul George had 36 points, eight rebounds and five steals, Russell Westbrook had a triple-double of 29 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds and the Thunder beat Portland on Tuesday night.

Steven Adams and Terrance Ferguson each added 14 points for Oklahoma City, which snapped a three-game losing streak to Portland at Chesapeake Energy Arena. After a stretch of losing five of six games, during which they gave up 154, 142 and 138 points in defeats, the Thunder have won three straight and moved back into third place in the fluid Western Conference standings.

Damian Lillard had 34 points and eight assists, and C.J. McCollum scored 31 for Portland, which committed 19 turnovers — five more than its average — and had a three-game winning streak snapped. Jusuf Nurkic had 22 points and 15 rebounds.

Sixteen of those Portland turnovers came on Thunder steals. George — who ranks second in the NBA (behind Westbrook) in steals at 2.33 per game — led the way, and Ferguson added four steals, many of which led to points at the other end for Oklahoma City.

"That's what we lean on — our size, our length, our ability to be able to make it tough for 48 minutes," Westbrook said. "Eventually we wear out teams."

Except for McCollum, who went 7 of 12 from 3-point range, the Blazers struggled from behind the arc, going 10 for 36. Oklahoma City hit 11 of 23 3-point attempts.

"They've been shooting the three well in recent games," Portland coach Terry Stotts said of the Thunder. "That made the difference, but I thought the biggest difference in the game was our turnovers that they created. The two quarters that we lost, we had six turnovers in each of those quarters and that just fueled their runs."

McCollum's seventh 3-pointer, with 5:07 left, pulled Portland within 109-106, but George keyed a game-sealing run by the Thunder, hitting four free throws and then stealing a pass intended for Nurkic and going for a layup to extend Oklahoma City's lead to 117-108 with 2:17 left. Westbrook capped the win with a pair of ferocious dunks in the final 1:24.

Oklahoma City led almost all the way — trailing for less than 30 seconds — but Portland never let the Thunder become comfortable. Through three quarters, only once did the Thunder push their lead to double digits, and that was 11 points late in the second quarter.

The Thunder hit 8 of 14 3-point attempts in the first two periods on the way to a 62-55 halftime lead. George was 3 of 5 from long range and had 20 points. McCollum hit five of his 3-pointers in the third quarter, twice pulling Portland within a point, but the Thunder held their lead and were ahead entering the fourth quarter.

Dennis Schroder keyed an 8-0 run by Oklahoma City early in the fourth quarter that put the Thunder ahead 101-89, but the Blazers scored seven straight to narrow the gap. Schroder scored 13 points for the Thunder.

Westbrook, the father of 2-month-old twin daughters, often does his "rock the baby" move — moving his arms back and forth as if cradling an infant — after a big play. Portland's Evan Turner mimicked that move after a first-quarter basket, but Westbrook claimed not to notice.

"I didn't even see it, honestly," Westbrook said. "I didn't see it. He can rock right back to Portland."

Portland had the second-fewest turnovers in the NBA (12.2) over the previous 12 games, but had 19 against the Thunder.

The Thunder's bench produced only 19 points.

Raptors 120, Kings 105

Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet each scored 19 points, Pascal Siakam had 18 and Toronto beat Sacramento.

Serge Ibaka had 15 points and 10 rebounds as the Raptors extended their home winning streak to 10 games. Toronto's franchise record for consecutive home wins is 12.

C.J. Miles scored a season-high 15 points and Norm Powell added 11 as Toronto overcame the absence of Kawhi Leonard (rest) to win for the eighth time in nine games.

Leonard missed his third straight game for rest and will also skip Wednesday's game at Indiana. He is expected to return Friday at Houston.

Kings rookie Marvin Bagley scored a career-high 22 points and added 11 rebounds in his first career start. Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 16 points and Brady Hield had 15 as Sacramento lost for the third time in four games.

Timberwolves 118, Suns 91

Karl-Anthony-Towns had 25 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists and Minnesota took an early lead and rolled past short-handed Phoenix.

Josh Okogie added a career-high 21 points for the Timberwolves, who beat the Suns for the second time in a row, following a 116-114 win in Minneapolis on Sunday.

In both games, Phoenix was without centers Deandre Ayton (left ankle sprain) and Richaun Holmes (right foot sprain).

Devin Booker scored 14 for Phoenix before he and Minnesota's Gorgui Deng were ejected with 5:24 left in the third quarter. Phoenix already trailed by 20 by then.

Josh Jackson had a season-high 27 points and 10 rebounds for Phoenix, which lost its fifth straight. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 13 and Dragan Bender, who started at center, had 12 points and 10 boards.

Andrew Wiggins scored 17 and Jared Bayless 14 for Minnesota.

Mavericks 106, Clippers 98

Dennis Smith Jr. had 17 points and eight rebounds in his return after a week away from the team amid trade talk, and Dallas beat Los Angeles.

Smith had two of his four assists on a layup and alley-oop dunk in the fourth quarter for DeAndre Jordan, who had 13 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks.

Rookie sensation Luka Doncic matched Smith with 17 points. Harrison Barnes led Dallas with 20 points.

Patrick Beverley scored 16 points while Avery Bradley and Lou Williams had 15 apiece for the Clippers, who lost for the sixth time in seven games.