Rockets rally past Spurs in first game without Harden

SAN ANTONIO » Christian Wood had 27 points and 15 rebounds, and the Houston Rockets rallied to beat the San Antonio Spurs 109-105 on Thursday in their first game since trading away franchise cornerstone James Harden.

Sterling Brown, who took Harden’s spot in the starting lineup, had 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 36 minutes.

Spurs forward Keldon Johnson had a career-high 29 points and Lonnie Walker IV added 16 points while tying a career-high with four 3-pointers.

Houston staged a 15-2 run to lead 105-101 with 1:46 left. Brown had a wild, overhead shot land on the top of the backboard for an out-of-bounds call with 9.5 seconds remaining. Spurs veteran DeMar DeRozan missed a 15-footer with 0.4 seconds left, and San Antonio fouled P.J. Tucker, who made two free throws to seal it.

Houston was playing its first game since sending Harden to the Brooklyn Nets in a fourteam blockbuster trade on Wednesday. Victor Oladipo, Dante Exum and Rodions Kurucs, who the Rockets acquired along with numerous draft picks and draft swaps for Harden, are not with the team yet.

The Rockets were also without John Wall and Eric Gordon due to injuries. The upheaval led to more minutes for the remaining roster, and they took advantage of it. RAPTORS 111, HORNETS 108 » Chris Boucher had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Kyle Lowry had 16 points and 12 assists, and Toronto beat Charlotte.

Pascal Siakam added 15 points and seven rebounds as Toronto ended a two-game skid and improved to 3-8.

Terry Rozier led the Hornets with 22 points and P.J. Washington had 20 points and 11 rebounds. LaMelo Ball had 14 points and 11 assists as Charlotte played without leading scorer Gordon Heyward, who strained his left hip in Wednesday night’s 104-93 loss to Dallas that ended a four-game winning streak.