Capela, Harden lead Rockets to 10th straight win
Celtics fall to Bulls without injured Irving
HOUSTON — Clint Capela scored a career-high 28 points, James Harden had 26 points and 17 assists and the Houston Rockets beat the New Orleans Pelicans 130-123 on Monday night for their 10th straight victory.
The game was tied with about three minutes remaining after Harden made two free throws. Those were the first of seven straight points by Harden that put Houston up 124-119 with 1:30 left.
Jrue Holiday then scored for New Orleans, but Harden responded with a 3-pointer. Harden also made two free throws to make it 129-121 with 34 seconds left.
Holiday had a season-high 37 points for the Pelicans. E’Twaun Moore scored career-high 36 points and made six of New Orleans’ franchise-record 18 3-pointers. BULLS 108, CELTICS 85: In Chicago, Nikola Mirotic scored 24 points, Bobby Portis added a career-high 23 and Chicago blew out Boston with Celtics star Kyrie Irving sidelined because of a bruised left quadriceps.
Owners of the NBA’s worst record, the Bulls built an 18-point lead in the second quarter against the Eastern Conference leaders. And when Boston cut it to 12 in the fourth, the Bulls simply pulled away for their third straight win.
Mirotic made his first start of the season with leading scorer Lauri Markkanen sidelined because of back spasms. The 6-foot-10 forward hit 9 of 14 shots and grabbed eight rebounds in his third appearance.
Portis shot 10 of 15 and nailed all three 3-pointers.
Before Monday night, Mirotic and Portis had only made headlines together this season for the wrong reasons. Mirotic missed the first 23 games with facial fractures he suffered in a fight at practice with Portis.
Al Horford scored 15 for Boston. Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier added 13 points apiece in the Celtics’ most lopsided loss of the season.
Boston got within 12 in the fourth quarter when Portis hit a jumper and Mirotic made a 3 to make it 90-73 with just under eight minutes left. The Bulls remained in control the rest of the way.
Mirotic came through with 16 points as Chicago grabbed a 56-42 halftime lead. Portis scored 15 in the first half.
The Bulls wiped out a fourpoint deficit and led 52-34 after a 24-2 run in the second quarter. Portis scored 10 during that stretch, nailing two 3s, and Mirotic finished it with a short hook. HORNETS 116, THUNDER 103: In Oklahoma City, Dwight Howard scored 23 points to help Charlotte beat Oklahoma City. Kemba Walker had 19 points for the Hornets, who had lost seven of eight. Marvin Williams scored 18, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist finished with 17 points.
It was Charlotte’s second road win of the season in 12 tries.
Russell Westbrook had 30 points and seven assists and Paul George scored 20 points for the Thunder after missing the previous two games with a right calf contusion.
Charlotte shot 53 percent from the field against one of the league’s best defensive teams. The Bobcats made 13 of 25 3-point attempts.
HEAT 107, GRIZZLIES 82: In Memphis, Tenn., Goran Dragic scored 19 points, leading the balanced Heat to the victory.
Miami shot 56.1 percent from the field and had seven players score in double figures in its second straight win. Josh Richardson had 17 points, and reserves Tyler Johnson and Bam Adebayo finished with 14 apiece.
Memphis lost for the 15th time in 16 games. Marc Gasol scored 19 points on 5-for-14 shooting and Andrew Harrison had 16. WARRIORS 111, TRAIL BLAZERS 104: In Oakland, Calif., Kevin Durant had 28 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots, leading short-handed Golden State past sluggish Portland.
Klay Thompson overcame a cold shooting start to score 24 points as Golden State played without two-time MVP Stephen Curry, who is nursing a sprained right ankle and missed his third straight game. Draymond Green sat out with a sore right shoulder while starting center Zaza Pachulia was sidelined for his second game in a row because of soreness in his left shoulder.
Damian Lilliard scored a season-high 39 points with five 3-pointers playing back home in Oakland. He hit a 3-pointer late in the first half with Durant in his face and pumped his arm to celebrate.
Durant, who earned Western Conference Player of the Week honors on Monday, shot 11 for 21 and Nick Young contributed 12 points in 13 minutes off the bench before leaving with a concussion in the third quarter.
David West scored in double figures over consecutive games for the first time with the Warriors and his first since 2015-16 for San Antonio. CLIPPERS 96, RAPTORS 91: In Los Angeles, Montrezl Harrell scored 17 points and Los Angeles rallied over the final 3:21 to beat Toronto and snap the Raptors’ six-game winning streak.
DeAndre Jordan had 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Clippers. Their bench outscored Toronto’s reserves 50-17, led by Harrell and Lou Williams, who also had 17 points.
Milos Teodosic scored 12 points in his return after missing 22 games with a left foot injury. His 3-pointer with 40 seconds left extended the Clippers’ lead to 91-87.
Jonas Valanciunas had 23 points and 15 rebounds, and Serge Ibaka added 17 points for the Raptors, who led by 13 points in the first half.