Clarkson, Jazz reach 50-win mark; Warriors win on Filipino Heritage night

MANILA, Philippines — The Utah Jazz are the first team to reach 50 wins this season after adding to the woes of the also-ran Houston Rockets, 124-116, at the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on Saturday (Sunday, Manila time).

Improving their home record to 31-4, the Jazz remain atop the NBA standings as the playoffs draw closer.

Georges Niang paced a team effort from the Jazz with 24 points in the win.

Four other Jazz players finished in double digit scoring with Filipino-American Jordan Clarkson once again providing a spark off of the bench with 21 points.

Bojan Bogdanovic, meanwhile, followed up his career-high game on Friday (Saturday, Manila) with a 20-point outing against Houston.

Elsewhere, the Golden State Warriors broke a franchise record in threes made in a virtually wire-to-wire victory over the OKC Thunder, 136-97, on Filipino Heritage Night in Chase Center.

Stephen Curry continues to lead the way towards the scoring championship with 49 points in just 29 minutes of action.

The Warrios hit a whopping 27 threes which passed an erstwhile franchise record of 25.

The win puts them ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies still as the play-in tournament looms for the final two spots in the NBA postseason.

Meanwhile, the Portland Trail Blazers widened their lead over the Los Angeles Lakers in the standings after a 124-102 win over the reeling San Antonio Spurs.

Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum connived for 57 combined points in the win to keep themselves out of the play-in picture and straight into the postseason.

In the other games, Russell Westbrook tied Oscar Robinson for the most triple-doubles made in his career with his 181st logged in a 133-132 overtime win over the Indiana Pacers.

Westbrook had 33 points, 19 rebounds, and 15 assists in a game that saw him sink the game-sealing free throws and a game-winning block to propel them to the win.

Bradley Beal, who is trying to keep up with Curry in the scoring leaders, had a 50-point outing for Washington.

Washington is currently ninth in the Eastern Conference standings and are on track for a play-in spot.

The Memphis Grizzlies, for their part, stay within striking distance of the Golden State Warriors in the play-in race with a 109-99 win over the Toronto Raptors.

The Philadelphia 76ers, on the other hand, won their eighth straight game after a comfortable 118-104 victory over the Detroit Pistons.

In the last game of the day, the Denver Nuggets squandered a 21-point lead against the Brooklyn Nets who were able to arrest a four-game skid, 125-119.

Sans James Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving tallied 33 points and 31 points, respectively, to stun the Nuggets with a huge fourth quarter push.