Clippers triumph despite Harden scoring explosion

LOS ANGELES: James Harden delivered another dynamic performance with his second straight 51-point outing but once again it wasn’t enough as the Houston Rockets lost 128-118 to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday.

The Clippers came on in the second half to offset the heroics of guard Harden, who became the first player since Kobe Bryant in 2007 to register back-to-back 50-point games. He equalled his points total from Wednesday’s 122-116 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Harden finished 15 of 28 from the floor and 15 of 16 from the free-throw line while contributing eight assists in front of a crowd of 18,000 at the Rockets’ Toyota Center arena.

On Wednesday, Harden scored his 51 in 43 minutes of playing time — and Friday he did it in 41 minutes as he fouled out with 26 seconds left.

But Harden didn’t want to talk about matching the 50-point performances of Bryant on Friday, instead complaining about the officiating.

“I’m tired of hearing, ‘I made a mistake.’ Or, ‘I didn’t see it.’ It’s frustrating as a player. I know we all make mistakes, but it’s frustrating,” he said.

Bryant had four 50-point games in a row in March 2007. Michael Jordan strung together three straight 50-point nights in 1987.

Harden is also just the second player to score 50 points in backto-back losses, joining Wilt Chamberlain in the 1962-63 season.

Austin Rivers caught fire in the second half and, with some help from Lou Williams, shot the Clippers to victory.

“I had to be aggressive,” Rivers said.

Rivers scored 30 of his teamhigh 36 points on 10-of-18 shooting in the second half, drilling five of 10 three-pointers down the stretch to keep the Rockets off guard.

Elsewhere, the Brooklyn Nets started quickly, played aggressively and dominated on defence en route to a 119-84 wire-to-wire victory over the struggling Washington Wizards.

“We just sustained it and stayed focused,” Brooklyn guard Allen Crabbe said.

Brooklyn ended a four-game losing skid with their second home win over Washington in 10 days.

In Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook hit the winning three-pointer with one second left to lift the Oklahoma City Thunder past the Atlanta Hawks 120-117.

Elsewhere, Kevin Durant tallied a game-high 33 points and Jordan Bell finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds as the Golden State Warriors defeated the Lakers 113-106. AFP