Bungling Rockets lose despite leading Celtics by 26
Al Horford made a hook shot with 3.7 seconds left to give Boston its only lead of the game, and the Celtics rallied from a 26-point deficit to beat the Houston Rockets 99-98 on Thursday night.
Kyrie Irving scored 26 and Jayson Tatum finished with 19 for the Celtics, while Marcus Smart drew two offensive fouls against James Harden in the closing seconds to help Boston complete the comeback.
Smart and Terry Rozier had 13 points apiece.
Tatum made a layup with seven seconds left to pull the Celtics within 98-97, then Smart had position on Harden for an offensive foul that gave Boston the ball and a chance to win it. Horford converted from the lane to put Boston up for the first time in a game Houston had led throughout and dominated until midway through the third quarter.
Harden finished with 34 points and 10 assists. Eric Gordon scored 24 points for Houston, which shot 25 percent (9 of 36) in the second half and lost its fourth straight.
BUCKS 102, T’WOLVES 96
In Milwaukee, Eric Bledsoe scored 26 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo added 22 to help Milwaukee rally from a 20-point deficit and beat Minnesota.
Bledsoe had six points and made two key assists down the stretch and the Bucks found their missing defense, holding the Timberwolves to a season-low 12 points in the fourth quarter. Minnesota went cold over the last 4:21 and had its five-game winning streak snapped.
Bledsoe took a pass from Antetokounmpo and made an open 3-pointer from the corner to give the Bucks their first lead of the game at 95-93 with 2:25 to go. Bledsoe followed with a threepoint play and then found Ante- tokounmpo under the basket for an easy two points, pushing the lead to 100-93 with 1:04 left.
Minnesota perhaps wore down a night after a 128-125 overtime victory over Denver and had a four-game road winning streak snapped.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 22 points for Minnesota and Andrew Wiggins added 21.
SPURS 119, KNICKS 107
In San Antonio, LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points and every San Antonio starter scored in double figures to beat New York.
Pau Gasol added 17 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for San Antonio.
The Spurs improved to 17-2 at home while winning their third straight overall.
The Spurs were without Kawhi Leonard and lost Rudy Gay to a foot injury only two nights after playing with a full roster for the first time all season.