Capela, Harden lead Rockets over Pelicans
HOUSTON » Clint Capela had a career-high 28 points and James Harden scored 12 straight points for Houston in the fourth quarter as the Rockets rallied for a 130-123 victory to extend their winning streak to 10 games on Monday night.
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’s up 124-119 with 1:30 left.
Jrue Holiday made a basket after that, but Harden hit a 3-pointer seconds later to push the lead to 127-121. Harden stole the ball from E’Twaun Moore after a timeout by New Orleans. He was fouled and made both free throws to make it 129-121 with 34 seconds left.
After scoring 48 points in Houston’s last game, Harden finished with 26 on Monday, but he tied a career-high with 17 assists, finding the 6-foot-10 Capela under the basket again and again.
Holiday had a seasonhigh 37 points for the Pelicans. Moore had a careerhigh 36 points and made a career-most six 3-pointers on a night New Orleans set a franchise record with 18 3-pointers.
The Pelicans led by seven entering the fourth and were up by eight with about 10 minutes left when Moore scored all their points in a 6-2 run. Houston used an 11-3 spurt after that to tie it at 112-112 with about six minutes remaining. Paul made five points in that span and Capela capped it with two dunks.
New Orleans was without Anthony Davis, who sat out with a groin injury. He missed three games after sustaining the injury on Dec. 1 but played in the last two games before the problem began to bother him again.
The Pelicans were up by 2 early in the third quarter when Holiday scored five quick points to push the lead to 89-82. They led by seven later in the quarter when Holiday got going again, scoring all of their points in a 5-2 run that made it 96-86. HORNETS 116, THUNDER 103 » Dwight Howard scored 23 points to help the Char- lotte Hornets beat the Okla- homa City Thunder 116-103 on Monday night.
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.
The game was tied at 66 in the third quarter when Charlotte went on a run and never relinquished momentum. A 3-pointer by Williams made it 74-66, leading to a Thunder timeout.
Charlotte kept right on rolling. A 3-pointer by Frank Kaminsky put the Hornets up 86-68, and a layup by Kidd-Gilchrist made it a 20-point game. The Hornets made 7 of 10 3-pointers in the quarter to go up 92-74 at the end of the period. HEAT 107, GRIZZLIES 82 . » Goran Dragic scored 19 points, and the Miami Heat pulled away from the lowly Memphis Grizzlies for a 107-82 victory on Monday night.
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.
The Heat carried a 70-60 lead into the fourth quarter and kept up the pressure in the final period. Johnson scored five straight points to run the advantage out to 18, and the lead ballooned to 27 in the closing minutes.
Miami shot 65 percent in the second half.
The first half was a sloppy affair with 11 turnovers for the Grizzlies and 10 for the Heat. Miami led 45-42 at the break.