Harden records a triple-double, leads Rockets past Cavs
HOUSTON — James Harden had a triple-double of 35 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists to help the Houston Rockets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 117-113 on Thursday night.
Harden also had five steals and a block as Houston extended its winning streak to four games.
LeBron James had 33 points for the Cavaliers, and Jeff Green added 27.
Houston led by seven after a layup by James with about 10 minutes left. The Rockets scored the next six points, capped by a 3-pointer by P.J. Tucker to make it 111-98. The Cavaliers used a 13-1 run, with five points from James, to cut the lead to 112-111 with 90 seconds left.
Harden missed a layup after that, but grabbed a rebound and threw an alley-oop to Clint Capela, who finished for Houston’s first basket since Tucker’s 3. He was fouled on the play and made the free throw to make it 115-11 with just over a minute remaining.
James made a layup on the other end, but Capela made another basket after a grabbing the rebound on a miss by Harden to put Houston back up by 4 with 10.7 seconds left.
Capela, who finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks, blocked a shot by James in the final seconds to secure the win.
Harden has scored 30 or more points in three of the last four games, highlighted by a 56-point performance in a win over the Jazz on Sunday. It’s the second triple-double of the season for Harden and the 33rd of his career.
WIZARDS 111, LAKERS 95
In Washington, John Wall’s Wizards managed to make a doubledigit edge hold up against the Lakers this time, with the All-Star point guard scoring 23 points and Bradley Beal 22 as Washington beat Los Angeles and cold-shooting Lonzo Ball.
Ball had 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. But the No. 2 overall draft pick out of UCLA came in making just 29.5 percent of his field-goal attempts for the Lakers and he was worse against the Wizards, going 3 for 12 — 25 percent.
RAPTORS 122, PELICANS 118
In Toronto, DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points, Serge Ibaka had 19 and Toronto beat New Orleans or its fifth straight win over the Pelicans.
Kyle Lowry scored six of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, and Jonas Valanciunas had 13 rebounds to help the Raptors win for the 13th time in 16 meetings with New Orleans.
Jrue Holiday had a season-high 34 points and 11 assists, and DeMarcus Cousins added 20 points and 15 rebounds for the Pelicans in the finale of a four-game trip. They had won a season-best three straight.
KINGS 109, 76ERS 108
In Sacramento, Calif., De’Aaron Fox made a 19-foot jumper with 13.4 seconds remaining to lift the Sacramento Kings over Philadelphia, ending a five-game winning streak for the 76ers that marked their longest in six years.
Philadelphia center Joel Embiid missed a shot from the free throw line as time expired.
Two nights after rallying from 17 points down to upset Oklahoma City and snap a seven-game skid, Sacramento (3-8) pulled off another stunner by closing the game with a 7-0 run.
NUGGETS 102, THUNDER 94
In Denver, Emmanuel Mudiay scored 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, including the goahead 3-pointer midway through the period, and the Nuggets beat the Thunder.
Paul Milsap added 17 points and Nikola Jokic had 15 points to go with 11 rebounds for Denver. The Nuggets snapped a five-game losing streak at home to the Thunder, including a 106-105 setback April 9 on a last-second 3-pointer by Russell Westbrook that eliminated Denver from playoff contention.
Carmelo Anthony, who spent his first 7½ years in the league in Denver before being traded to the New York Knicks in 2011, had 28 points to lead the Thunder, who acquired Anthony in a pre-season trade. Paul George and Westbrook each added 13 points for the Thunder, who lost their fourth in a row.