ROCKETS’ WIN STREAK UNSTOPPABLE
Houston survives Kings rally for 10th straight win, now 44-13 going into All-Star break
James Harden had 28 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and the Houston Rockets held on for their 10th straight victory, 10091 over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.
The Rockets are 44-13 entering the All-Star break after winning 17 of their last 19 games.
Houston led by as many as 17, but the Kings got within striking distance several times in the fourth quarter. They were within six late when Houston used a 7-2 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Harden, to make it 94-83 with just more than a minute left.
The Kings scored the next five points, with a 3-pointer from Garrett Temple, to cut it to six again with 30 seconds left. Joe Johnson, in his Houston debut, added two free throws before Bogdan Bogdanovic hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 96-91 with about 25 seconds left.
TRAIL BLAZERS 123, WARRIORS 117
In Portland, Damian Lillard had 44 points and eight assists, and Portland overcame Kevin Durant’s 50 points to snap a seven-game losing streak to Golden State.
CJ McCollum added 29 points for the Blazers, who go into the All-Star break six games over .500 (32-26).
Durant added seven rebounds and six assists, but Golden State had its three-game winning streak snapped. It was Durant’s fifth career 50-point game and first this season.
CLIPPERS 129, CELTICS 119
In Boston, DeAndre Jordan had 30 points and 13 rebounds and Los Angeles beat Boston for its fourth victory in five games.
Tobias Harris added 21 points, Danilo Gallinari had 20, and Lou Williams 19.
Kyrie Irving led Boston with 33 points and eight assists. Al Horford had 20 points, and Marcus Morris added 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Celtics lost for the fourth time in five games, a stretch that has seen them fall behind Toronto for the best record in the Eastern Conference. /
We didn’t have that energy and you could just see it. But they have the confidence that they can get it done defensively or by any means, and we just finished it up. Not a whole lot to say other than workmanship. MIKE D’ANTONI, Rockets coach