Harden scores career-high 56 as home crowd chants ‘MVP’
James Harden scored a career-high 56 points and added 13 assists in just 35 minutes to lead the Houston Rockets to a 137-110 victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday night.
Harden finished 19 of 25 from the field after missing his last three attempts. The MVP runner-up was 7 for 7 from beyond the arc until he missed a step-back 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter as the shot clock was about to expire.
Even when the Jazz could deny Harden his shot, he passed it off for someone else to score.
Eric Gordon scored 20 points, Trevor Ariza had 14 and Nene scored 13 off the bench.
Harden received a standing ovation from the Toyota Center crowd, which rained down “MVP! MVP!” chants at multiple points during the game.
He had 22 points in both the first and third quarters, 30 at halftime and sat for the final 7:32 of the blowout.
TRAIL BLAZERS 103, THUNDER 99 >> Damian Lillard had 36 points and 13 assists, Jusuf Nurkic added 25 points and Portland held off the Oklahoma City.
HEAT 104, CLIPPERS 101 >>
James Johnson made two free throws with 8.7 seconds left and Miami recovered after blowing a 25-point lead, bouncing back to beat Los Angeles.
Down 25 in the second half, the Clippers began the fourth quarter with a 16-0 run and surged to take a 101-100 edge with 16.3 seconds left.
They missed a chance to extend the lead when Austin Rivers missed a pair of foul shots.
SPURS 112, SUNS 95 >> LaMarcus Aldridge scored 21 points and San Antonio rolled past Phoenix, riding a dominant third quarter.
It was San Antonio’s second consecutive win after losing four straight.
The Suns were held to 13 points in the third quarter, the lowest production by a Spurs opponent in any quarter this season.
San Antonio won the period by 21 points, its largest point differential in the
third quarter since 2012. LAKERS 107, GRIZZLIES 102 >> Brook Lopez scored 21 points, Brandon Ingram added 20 and Los Angeles blew most of a 22-point lead before hanging on for its third victory in four games over Memphis.
CELTICS 104, MAGIC 88 >> Jaylen Brown scored 18 points and Al Horford added 14 points and 10 rebounds to spark Boston to a victory over Orlando.
The Eastern Conferenceleading Celtics (8-2) have won eight straight after beginning the season with back-to-back losses. Orlando (6-4), which was tied with the Celtics for the best record in the NBA coming into Friday night, has lost two straight.
HAWKS 117, CAVALIERS 115 >>
Dennis Schroeder scored 28 points and injury-riddled Atlanta ended an eightgame losing streak, beating skidding Cleveland. Missing five players, Atlanta won for the first time since topping Dallas in the season opener.
Cleveland’s Kevin Love was taken to a hospital with an illness, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said without disclosing the problem. Love left in the third quarter.
LeBron James had 26 points and 13 assists for Cleveland. The Cavaliers have lost five of seven.
WIZARDS 107, RAPTORS 96 >> Bradley Beal scored 38 points, Otto Porter Jr. had 19 and Washington overcame the absence of AllStar point guard John Wall to beat Toronto.
KNICKS 108, PACERS 101 >> Kristaps Porzingis scored a career-high 40 points, carrying the New York Knicks back from a 19-point deficit to a victory over Indiana.
Porzingis added eight rebounds and six blocked shots in his seventh 30-point performance in nine games this season.
TIMBERWOLVES 112, HORNETS 94 >> Jeff Teague had 18 points and 12 assists, and Minnesota beat Charlotte for their fifth straight victory.
Andrew Wiggins led Minnesota with 20 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns, Jimmy Butler, Gorgui Dieng and Jamal Crawford all reached double figures in scoring.