Harden, Rockets finally take flight, defeat Memphis
HOUSTON — James Harden scored 38 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 111-96 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night.
After suffering two losses to Memphis in the first two weeks of the season, the Rockets finally solved their shooting woes against the Grizzlies.
In their previous two meetings, Memphis held the Rockets to 90 and 89 points, the only two times the Rockets have been held under 100 points this season, and Houston’s lowest two scoring efforts ever under head coach Mike D’Antoni.
On Saturday night, Houston led by as many as 25 points. Eric Gordon added 26 points for Houston. Tyreke Evans led Memphis with 22 points.
PELICANS 111, CLIPPERS
103: In New Orleans, DeMarcus Cousins had 35 points and 15 rebounds and Anthony Davis added 25 points and 10 rebounds to help New Orleans beat Los Angeles.
Blake Griffin led the Clippers with 27 points.
KNICKS 118, KINGS 91: In New York, Kristaps Porzingis scored 34 points, and Courtney Lee added 20 in New York’s victory over Sacramento. Skal Labissiere scored 19 points for the Kings.
WIZARDS 113, HAWKS 94: In Washington, Bradley Beal scored 19 points and Washington forced Atlanta into a seasonworst 24 turnovers. Markieff Morris and Kelly Oubre scored 18 points apiece for the Wizards. Taurean Prince scored 19 points for Atlanta.
BUCKS 98, LAKERS 90: In Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points to help Milwaukee overcome Lonzo Ball’s triple-double for Los
Angeles.
Ball became the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double, finishing with 17 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds. At 20 years and 15 days, he bested LeBron James by four days to become the youngest to accomplish the feat.
SPURS 133, BULLS 94: In San Antonio, Texas, LaMarcus Aldridge had 21 points and 10 rebounds and short-handed San Antonio beat Chicago, setting a season high in points despite missing a third of their roster to injury or rest.
CAVALIERS 111, MAVERICKS 104: In Dallas, Kevin Love had 29 points and 15 rebounds and Kyle Korver scored all 13 of his points in the fourth quarter to help Cleveland beat Dallas.
LeBron James had 19 points, two on an emphatic dunk that put Cleveland up 104-100.
WARRIORS 135, 76ERS 114: In Oakland, Calif., Kevin Durant returned from missing one game with a leg injury to finish with 29 points, leading Golden State past Philadelphia for its sixth straight win.
Stephen Curry added 22 points and nine assists to surpass the 4,000-assist mark for his career.
NUGGETS 125, MAGIC 107: In Denver, Jamal Murray scored a career-high 32 points, Will Barton had 26 points and nine rebounds — both season bests — and Denver beat Orlando.
SUNS 118, TIMBERWOLVES 110: In Phoenix, Devin Booker and T.J. Warren scored 35 points apiece and Phoenix snapped a five-game losing streak by beating Minnesota.
JAZZ 114, NETS 106: In Salt Lake City, Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points, Derrick Favors had season highs of 24 points and 12 rebounds and Utah snapped a four-game losing streak.