SPORTS DIGEST

BASKETBALL

The Houston Rockets recorded their 16th consecutive win by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-112. Chris Paul finished with 25 points while James Harden had 23 points and 11 assists for the Rockets, who are on their second-longest winning streak in franchise history. Houston top the Western Conference standings with 50 wins and 13 losses, but need to reel off six more wins to match the record set by the 2007-08 Rockets. Their closest rivals, the Golden State Warriors, earned their 50th victory of the season as they toppled the Brooklyn Nets 114-101. Stephen Curry scored 34 points and became the seventh player in Warriors history to make 5,000 career field goals. The Washington Wizards had their best three-point shooting night of the season with a 117-113 overtime victory against the Miami Heat. The Wizards made 14 of 24 three-pointers to snap their three-game losing streak, as Bradley Beal scored 30 points. Eastern Conference leaders the Toronto Raptors won for the 12th time in 13 games, defeating the Atlanta Hawks 106-90. Demar Derozan scored 25 points, while Jonas Valanciunas added 15. Meanwhile, Robert Covington finished with 22 points in the Philadelphia 76ers’ 128-114 win over the Charlotte Hornets, while Yogi Ferrell shot a season-high 24 points as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Denver Nuggets 118-107. Damian Lillard scored 37 points as the Portland Trail Blazers made it eight wins in a row with a 111-87 victory over the New York Knicks while the New Orleans Pelicans recorded their ninth consecutive success by toppling the Los Angeles Clippers 121-116. NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION: Charlotte Hornets 114 Philadelphia 76ers 128, Dallas Mavericks 118 Denver Nuggets 107, Golden State Warriors 114 Brooklyn Nets 101, LA Clippers 116 New Orleans Pelicans 121, Oklahoma City Thunder 112 Houston Rockets 122, Portland Trail Blazers 111 New York Knicks 87, Toronto Raptors 106 Atlanta Hawks 90, Washington Wizards 117 Miami Heat 113 (OT).

CRICKET

FOURTH ODI (Dunedin) England 335-9 Innings Complete (J M Bairstow 138, J E Root 102, I S Sodhi 4-58) v New Zealand 339-5 (L R P L Taylor 181 no, T W M Latham 71). New Zealand beat England by 5 wkts. Series tied 2-2.

ICE HOKEY

The Nashville Predators toppled the Dallas Stars 2-0 to post a team record of nine wins in a row. The Western Conference leaders are now six points clear of nearest rivals the Vegas Golden Knights, and also lead the Central Division by the same margin ahead of the Winnipeg Jets. Goaltender Pekka Rinne made 26 saves against the Stars for his seventh shutout of the season. Brad Marchand scored a hat-trick to help power the Boston Bruins to a 6-5 victory against the Detroit Red Wings. His third came just 34 seconds into overtime, clinching a fourth consecutive win. The Tampa Bay Lightning also won in overtime, edging the Florida Panthers 5-4. The Lightning led 4-2 going into the third period, but the Panthers levelled the match up with two goals in the space of five minutes to force the extra time. Brayden Point scored at 2:49 of overtime to secure the win for the Lightning. A 4-1 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights helped keep the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second wild card spot in the Stanley Cup play-offs from the Eastern Conference. The Blue Jackets are two points ahead of the Florida Panthers and three points behind the New Jersey Devils, who ended a three-game losing streak by beating the Montreal Canadiens 6-4. Travis Zajac scored twice, while Taylor Hall extended his point streak to 26 games. Elsewhere, Steve Mason made 31 saves to help the Winnipeg Jets shut out the New York Rangers 3-0 and Jonathan Toews scored nine seconds into overtime as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Colorado Avalanche 2-1. The Minnesota Wild scored four goals in four minutes to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 6-2 and the Anaheim Ducks shut out the Washington Capitals 4-0. NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE: Anaheim Ducks 4 Washington Capitals 0, Boston Bruins 6 Detroit Red Wings 5 (OT), Chicago Blackhawks 2 Colorado Avalanche 1 (OT), Columbus Blue Jackets 4 Vegas Golden Knights 1, Minnesota Wild 6 Carolina Hurricanes 2, Nashville Predators 2 Dallas Stars 0, New Jersey Devils 6 Montreal Canadiens 4, New York Rangers 0 Winnipeg Jets 3, Tampa Bay Lightning 5 Florida Panthers 4 (OT).