HARDEN RETURNS TO FIRE ROCKETS
Houston have no problem taming Bulls
JAMES Harden scored 25 points, dished seven assists and added four steals as the visiting Houston Rockets pulled away for a 96-88 win over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night.
Carmelo Anthony (17 points) and James Ennis III (15 points) were among three other Rockets to finish in double figures.
Houston earned its second win in a row after losing the previous four.
Harden, playing in his first game after missing three straight because of a strained left hamstring, scored 11 points unanswered during the third quarter.
He hit back-to-back 3-pointers, sank a pair of free throws and made another 3-pointer to increase Houston’s lead from 6059 to 71-59.
Victor Oladipo capped a wild finish with a go-ahead 3-pointer with 3.4 seconds remaining, delivering host Indiana a tight victory over Boston.
After sweeping two games at Indiana last season, the Celtics appeared headed for another road success when Kyrie Irving hit consecutive 3-pointers in the final 1:08, the second putting Boston up 101-97 with just 38.1 seconds remaining.
But after Oladipo (24 points, 12 rebounds) cut the deficit in half with two free throws with 29.2 seconds left, the Pacers got a shot at the win after Irving couldn’t complete a drive with 11.7 seconds to go.
Oladipo got the defensive rebound and, a few seconds later, connected from 27 feet for the game-winner.
Joel Embiid poured in 32 of his game-high 39 points in the first half, helping host Philadelphia avenge an earlier overtime loss to Detroit with an easy victory.
Veteran Vince Carter scored the go-ahead basket and added an assist and a free throw in the final minutes to help Atlanta seal a victory over visiting Miami.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Atlanta while extending Miami’s skid to three games.
LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan paced the way for host San Antonio, which handed New Orleans its fifth straight loss.
Gary Harris scored 20 points, Jamal Murray had 19 and host Denver used a big fourth quarter to beat Utah.
Nikola Jokic had 16 assists and 10 rebounds, but missed a tripledouble with just seven points for Denver, which outscored Utah 35-15 in the final quarter.
LeBron James scored 28 points, and visiting Los Angeles Lakers withstood a furious Portland rally to end a long losing streak to the Blazers.
Jeremy Lamb scored a seasonhigh 19 points, and host Charlotte rolled to an easy victory over struggling Cleveland.