Free throws give Houston no problem
HOUSTON— James Harden scored 26 points and Nene made two free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining to lift the Houston Rockets to their sixth straight win, 118-116 over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night.
Houston overcame Russell Westbrook’s 49 points, though the star guard struggled down the stretch.
Nene was fouled by Jerami Grant as he attempted a shot right under the basket, setting up the winning free throws. Nene had a season-high 18 points.
A pair of foul shots by Harden tied it with just under two minutes remaining. The teams combined to miss seven shots after that, with Westbrook missing three in that span, before Nene’s free throws.
The Thunder attempted an alley-oop on the inbounds pass after that, but Enes Kanter couldn’t finish the play and Houston held on.
Westbrook finished two points shy of his season high as Oklahoma City dropped its third straight.
Hawks 99, Pelicans 94
In New Orleans, Dennis Schroder scored 23 points and Atlanta beat New Orleans to win its fifth straight, even as shooting guard Kyle Korver spent the entire game on the bench amid reports he could soon be traded to Cleveland.
Paul Millsap had 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks, who trailed by three after Anthony Davis’ dunk with 3:51 left before outscoring New Orleans 14-6 the rest of the way. Dwight Howard added 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 14.
Pistons 115, Hornets 114
In Auburn Hills, Marco Belinelli nearly pulled off one of the craftiest buzzer beaters in memory, but his bank shot was disallowed because it came too late, and Detroit held on against Charlotte.
Belinelli was inbounding from the sideline with 0.5 seconds remaining and the Hornets down by one. Detroit’s Marcus Morris was guarding the inbounder but had his back turned, and Belinelli bounced the ball off him and caught the carom. He then took a shot that banked in, but it was waved off — and a video review confirmed the basket came just after time expired.