Rockets drub Wolves for 11th straight victory
HOUSTON — James Harden scored 31 points and the Houston Rockets won their 11th straight game with a 120-102 victory Friday night over the Minnesota Timberwolves, who lost All-Star Jimmy Butler to an apparent right knee injury.
Butler left late in the third quarter. After grabbing a rebound, he pivoted and planted hard on his right foot before collapsing and grabbing his right knee. He was on the floor for at least three minutes before he was carried off the court by two teammates. He appeared to avoid putting weight on his right leg while he was heading to the locker room.
Clint Capela had 25 points and 11 rebounds for Houston, getting his 10th double-double over the past 13 games. Chris Paul added 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
The Rockets trailed for much of the first half before going ahead to maintain the NBA's best record.
Andrew Wiggins led Minnesota with 21 points, and Jeff Teague and Karl-Anthony Towns both had 18 points. Towns added 13 rebounds.
PELICANS 124, HEAT 123, OT
Anthony Davis had 45 points, 17 rebounds, five blocked shots and five steals, and New Orleans earned its fourth consecutive victory.
Goran Dragic scored 30 points and Dwyane Wade hit two runners to give the Heat the lead twice in the last 36 seconds of overtime, but Davis responded to the first with a layup as he was fouled, and Jrue Holiday answered the second with a runner in the lane with 7 seconds left.
Wade had one last shot for the win with Holiday defending him closely. It bounced off the rim to Josh Richardson, whose rushed put-back missed the basket as time expired in Miami's third straight loss.
Holiday finished with 29 points and nine assists, connecting with Davis on a couple of alley-oop dunks.
CAVALIERS 112, GRIZZLIES 89
LeBron James had 18 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists in his 11th triple-double of the season, and Cleveland pulled away after a slow start.
George Hill also scored 18 points, while Larry Nance Jr. finished with 15 and Jordan Clarkson had 14 as the newcomers had good nights in the Cavaliers' fifth win in the last six games.
Tyreke Evans and JaMychal Green each had 15 points for Memphis, with Evans also dishing out 10 assists and Green grabbing 10 rebounds. Marc Gasol had 14 points and nine rebounds.
Cleveland outscored Memphis 58-40 in the second half, sending the Grizzlies to their eighth straight loss.
CELTICS 110, PISTONS 98
Kyrie Irving scored 18 points and rookie Daniel Theis had a career-high 19 to lift Boston to the victory.
Jayson Tatum scored 11 of his 15 points in the first half for the Celtics, who went into the All-Star break on a three-game losing streak but returned with a solid win on the road. Boston took control by outscoring the Pistons 38-21 in the second quarter.
Blake Griffin scored 17 points for Detroit but shot just 5 of 19 from the field.
Theis eclipsed his previous career high of 12 points. He played an important role after Aron Baynes, the starting center for the Celtics, went to the locker room in the first half with left elbow soreness.