Harden boosts Rockets
HOUSTON—James Harden had 36 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets to their seventh straight win, 122-118, over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night.
Eric Gordon scored 24 points on 6-for10 shooting on 3-pointers, and Ryan Anderson added 19.for the Rockets. Houston shot 17 for 43 on 3s, making at least 10 for an NBA-record 24th straight game.
Brook Lopez scored 26 points and Sean Kilpatrick added 17 for the Nets.
Brooklyn trailed for much of the game until Joe Harris tied it at 118 with a layup with less than 40 seconds remaining.
Gordon gave Houston a two-point lead with a free throw with 11.9 seconds left, and the Rockets came up with a key steal on the ensuing inbound pass. Gordon then made two more from the line and the Rockets held on for the win.
Clippers 121, Trail Blazers 120
In Los Angeles, Blake Griffin had 26 points and 12 rebounds, Chris Paul had 21 points and 14 assists and Los Angeles held off Portland to sweep the season series.
J.J. Redick finished with 19 points, hitting all eight of his free throws — including three in the closing seconds to push Los Angeles’ lead to four points.
Portland’s Damian Lillard hit a 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds left for the final margin.
C.J. McCollum had 25 points and Lillard finished with 24 points and eight assists for the Trail Blazers, who lost their fourth straight.
The game got testy in the final minutes. Portland center Mason Plumlee was given a flagrant foul for elbowing Griffin in the face on layup. With 11 seconds left, Portland forward Evan Turner and Los Angeles center DeAndre Jordan were ejected after a brief skirmish under the Clippers’ basket.
Heat 112, Wizards 101
In Miami, Goran Dragic scored a season-high 34 points, Hassan Whiteside had 17 points and 16 rebounds and Miami beat Washington to snap a five-game slide.
Dragic scored 13 points in the fourth for the Heat, who opened a six-game homestand. James Johnson scored 14 off the bench for Miami, which won for only the third time in 11 games at home.
John Wall scored 30 points and Bradley Beal added 29 for Washington, which is 0-2 against Miami this season.
Dragic made 14 of 23 shots, on his way to his best scoring night in a Heat uniform.
Raptors 122, Bucks 100
In Toronto, DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points, Terrence Ross added 25 and Toronto beat Milwaukee for the sixth straight time.
Jonas Valanciunas had 13 rebounds and 11 points for his team-leading seventh double-double of the season as the Raptors won for the 12th time in the last 13 meetings with the Bucks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had a team-high 30 points and Jabari Parker chipped in with 27 as Milwaukee lost its third straight.
DeRozan’s free throw put the Raptors ahead for good with 2:52 left in the first quarter and they extended the lead to 26 in the second quarter.
The Bucks pulled within eight in the final minute of the third, but that was as close as they got.
Pacers 110, Hornets 94
In Indianapolis, Paul George and Myles Turner scored 22 points each to lead Indiana past Charlotte.
Jeff Teague had 16 points, 11 assists and five rebounds, and Rodney Stuckey added 14 points for the Pacers, who have won two straight since returning home from a five-game road trip.
Marco Belinelli scored 14 points for the Hornets, Marvin Williams and Nicolas Batum each had 13 and Kemba Walk- er added 12.
C.J. Miles made the go ahead 3-pointer with 5.6 seconds remaining in the third quarter to start an 11-1 run by the Pacers. It gave Indiana a 76-73 lead and Stuckey’s two free throws with 8:56 to play put the Pacers ahead 84-74.