Harden’s big night: 58 points, 10 assists
James Harden produced his seventh career 50-point, 10-assist game to spur the Houston Rockets to a 121-118 comeback victory over the visiting Miami Heat on Thursday.
Harden finished with 58 points and 10 assists to key the rally but received help down the stretch from Austin Rivers (17 points on 7 of 8 shooting) and Chris Paul, whose pull-up jumper with 46.2 seconds left followed an errant Harden 3-pointer and extended the lead to three.
Miami grabbed a 113-103 lead on a Goran Dragic 3-pointer with 6:18 remaining, but the Rockets responded with a 14- 0 run to the lead.
Harden produced a three-point play and two driving layups during that stretch, but Paul secured the lead with two free throws at the 3:27 mark. THUNDER STAR GEORGE INJURED » Paul George sat out the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 108-104 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers due to a sore right shoulder, the team announced.
George, who is averaging 28.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game, has missed just one other game this season.
College men’s basketball
STANFORD ROUTS WSU » Host Stanford opened with an 11-2 run and then blew the game open with a 16- 0 flurry in a 9850 thrashing of Washington State in Pac12 play.
KZ Okpala scored 16 of his game-high 22 points in the first half, during which the Cardinal (15-13, 8-8) ran off to a 50-13 lead and never looked back.
The Cardinal will finish conference play with two more home games, Sunday against Washington and next Thursday against Cal.
Golf
VEGAS BUILDS TWO-SHOT LEAD » Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas shot a 6-under-par round of 64 to build a two-shot lead after the first round of the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Zach Johnson is among a group of four players, including Lucas Glover, Ernie Els and Ben Silverman, tied for second place at 2 under.
World No. 3 Brooks Koepka, who lives in nearby Jupiter, Fla., is another shot off the pace in a 14-player group that also includes Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia.
Vegas was the story of the day with his bogey-free card that began on the back nine. That included a pair of birdies at Nos. 17 and 18.
• Defending champion Justin Thomas hurt his right wrist undertaking a risky shot.
The incident happened at the 10th hole at PGA National, after his ball ended up a couple of feet behind a tree following an errant drive.
Bark flew in all directions as the hosel of his club struck the tree at high speed, but the club did not break.
He shook his right wrist and later confirmed he had hurt it.