Harden scores 39 as Rockets beat depleted Pelicans

JAMES Harden scored 39 points and Russell Westbrook added 26 as the visiting Houston Rockets won their fourth consecutive game by beating the injury-depleted New Orleans Pelicans 122-116 on Monday night.

Harden scored 13 straight points as the Rockets took command midway through the fourth quarter. Eric Gordon came off the bench to add 17 points, Clint Capela had 11 points and 20 rebounds and P.J. Tucker scored 10 to support the Rockets' two stars.

J.J. Redick scored 24 to lead New Orleans, which played without three injured starters.

Josh Hart scored 19 points, Jrue Holiday added 18 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, Jahlil Okafor and E'Twaun Moore came off the bench to score 14 each and Derrick Favors had 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Celtics down Mavs for eighth consecutive win

Kemba Walker sank eight 3-pointers and scored 24 of his 29 points in the second half to lead the host Boston Celtics past the Dallas Mavericks 116-106 on Monday night.

Jaylen Brown had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Marcus Smart scored 17 as the Celtics extended their winning streak to eight. Boston played its first game without forward Gordon Hayward, who will miss six weeks after surgery to repair a fracture in his left hand.

Luka Doncic scored 34 points for the Mavericks, who

lost for the first time in five road games this season.

Dallas began the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run, grabbing its first lead of the game at 88-86 on a Tim Hardaway Jr. floater with 7:23 to go. Boston responded with an 8-4 stretch, forging ahead for good on a Walker 3-pointer with 5:22 remaining.

Jackson scores seasonhigh 24 as Grizzlies top Spurs

Jaren Jackson Jr. scored a season-high 24 points and Dillon Brooks added 21 as the visiting Memphis Grizzlies outlasted the San Antonio Spurs 113-109 on Monday in the Alamo City on the night the Spurs retired the jersey number of longtime standout Tony Parker.

Jae Crowder’s secondchance 3-pointer with 1:48 to play gave the Grizzlies a 111-108 lead and the Spurs would never recover. LaMarcus Aldridge hit one of two free throws with 55 seconds left for San Antonio before Brooks canned a pair from the charity stripe with 14.6 seconds remaining to push the Memphis lead to four points.

Jonas Valanciunas added 18 points and took 12 rebounds, and Brandon Clarke scored 14 points off the bench as the Grizzlies (3-7) snapped a two-game losing streak and won for the first time in four tries on the road this season.

Aldridge led the Spurs with 19 points, with Rudy Gay hitting for a season-high 18, Derrick White adding 15, Bryn Forbes scoring 14 and DeMar DeRozan contributing 12 points for the Spurs (5-5), who have lost two straight and four of their past five games.

Wolves beat Pistons despite Griffin’s return

Forward Andrew Wiggins poured in 33 points and the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves spoiled the return of All-Star forward Blake Griffin with a 120-114 win over the Detroit Pistons on Monday.

Wiggins, who surpassed the 8,000-career point mark in the first half, added six rebounds and five assists.

Karl-Anthony Towns supplied 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Jake Layman contributed 16 points off the bench. Treveon Graham added 13 points and six rebounds.

Griffin missed the first 10 games of the season due to hamstring and knee injuries. He had 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 23-plus minutes.

Luke Kennard led the Pistons with 25 points and seven rebounds. Langston Galloway tossed in 18 points off the bench while Tony Snell chipped in 16 points and Andre Drummond added 11 points and 12 rebounds.