Harden’s triple-double lifts Rockets over Kings
Raptors roll Sixers Cavs' Big 3 sit in defeat to Grizzlies Spurs slay Celtics Jazz down Thunder
James Harden matched the franchise record for career triple-doubles as the Houston Rockets blitzed the shorthanded Sacramento Kings 132-98 on Wednesday night.
The Rockets won their eighth consecutive game and flirted with the NBA record for three-pointers, hitting 22-of-42 from behind the arc.
Harden finished with 15 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds to post his 14th career triple-double and match the mark set by Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon. Harden needed only 30 minutes to produce his fifth triple-double on the season.
The Kings lost for the sixth time in eight games and played without center DeMarcus Cousins (rest), forward Rudy Gay (hip) and guard Ben McLemore (quad).
Israeli Omri Casspi got a rare start for Sacramento, scoring 10 points along with five rebounds and an assists in 27 minutes.
Raptors 123, 76ers 114
DeMar DeRozan scored 31 points, 23 over a blistering 15-minute stretch midgame, as Toronto topped Philadelphia.
DeRozan, the NBA’s fifth-leading scorer, was 11-of-18 from the floor and 9-of-11 from the foul line.
Kyle Lowry added 20 points, and Jonas Valanciunas 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors, who won for the 10th time in 11 games.
Grizzlies 93, Cavaliers 85
Marc Gasol posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds as Memphis defeated undermanned Cleveland.
The Cavs played without LeBron James, Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving – all of whom were rested and did not make the trip. Cleveland never led and trailed by 25 points in the fourth quarter.
Memphis got a game-high 20 points from guard Troy Daniels off the bench.
Spurs 108, Celtics 101
Kawhi Leonard scored 26 points and Pau Gasol added 17 points and pulled down 13 rebounds as San Antonio defeated Boston.
The Spurs’ Tony Parker had eight points in a two-and-a-half-minute stretch of the fourth quarter to help San Antonio withstand a Celtics’ comeback attempt.
Parker ended up with 16 points, 10 of them in the fourth quarter, while Manu Ginobili chimed in with 12.
Jazz 109, Thunder 89
Rodney Hood scored 25 points and Gordon Hayward added 17 to lead Utah over Oklahoma City.
Utah led from start to finish while shooting 58.3 percent from the field and 13-of23 from three-point range.
Russell Westbrook tallied 27 points, six rebounds and five assists for the Thunder, who lost for the third time in four games.
Clippers 113, Magic 108
Austin Rivers scored a season-high 25 points and hit seven three-pointers while leading Los Angeles over Orlando.
Rivers, who sat out Monday night after sustaining a concussion on Saturday, started just his second game of the season.
Heat 95, Pacers 89
Hassan Whiteside scored 26 points and grabbed 22 rebounds to lead Miami past Indiana.
It was the fourth 20-20 game in Whiteside’s career.
The Heat improved to 4-8 at home, while the Pacers are 1-10 in their past 11 games in Miami.
Wizards 109, Hornets 106
John Wall had 25 points, 10 assists and seven steals as Washington used its highest scoring quarter of the season to help defeat Charlotte.
Bradley Beal scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half and set a career high with nine assists for the Wizards. Washington outscored Charlotte 38-23 in the third quarter for an 87-77 lead and fended off the Hornets late.
The Hornets lost their third straight despite shooting 51 percent from the field.
Nets 107, Lakers 97
Brook Lopez scored eight of his 20 points in the final seven minutes as Brooklyn did enough down the stretch to defeat Los Angeles.
Bojan Bogdanovic led the Nets with 23 points and Sean Kilpatrick added 22, but it was Lopez who did a bulk of the heavy lifting to give the Nets the win.