James Harden pours in 42 as Rockets stop Celtics' win streak
JAMES Harden and Russell Westbrook combined for 78 points, and the host Houston Rockets snapped the Boston Celtics' seven-game win streak with a 116-105 victory Tuesday.
Harden produced 42 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while Westbrook chipped in 36 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Harden scored 31 points in the second half, including 19 in succession for Houston in the third quarter en route to his 19th 40-point game on the season.
With the Rockets clinging to a 96-94 lead midway through the fourth quarter, Harden and Westbrook sparked a 17-4 run. Harden scored six points during that stretch at the free-throw line and teamed with Westbrook to finish 27 of 31 at the charity stripe.
The Celtics went 20 of 25 from the line.
Gordon Hayward led Boston with 20 points and six assists, and he added eight rebounds. Jaylen Brown chipped in 19 points despite battling bothersome ankles. Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum combined for 29 points on 10-of-32 shooting. That duo finished 1 of 13 from 3-point range.
Danuel House Jr., who tallied a corner 3-pointer and a layup during the Rockets' late surge, contributed 17 points and nine boards while Robert Covington totaled 12 points, seven rebounds, four blocks and three steals.
Spurs hold on, down Thunder
LaMarcus Aldridge and Dejounte Murray scored 25 points each as the visiting San Antonio Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 114-106, on Tuesday night.
The win snapped the Spurs’ five-game losing streak and sent San Antonio into the All-Star break on a winning note.
Murray was nine of 12 from the floor as the Spurs shot 48.8 percent overall and hit 25 of 27 free throws.
Patty Mills added 20 points to help the Spurs bench outscore Oklahoma City’s, 42-19.
Chris Paul led the Thunder with 31 points, hitting five 3-pointers and shooting 12 of 18 overall and five of nine from behind the arc. Shai GilgeousAlexander added 17 points for Oklahoma City.
A night earlier in Denver, San Antonio led by as many as 23 points before losing to the Nuggets.
Rookie Williamson scores career-high 31 to lead Pelicans
Rookie Zion Williamson had a career-high 31 points and Josh Hart scored 12 of his 17 points in a pivotal third quarter as the host New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Portland Trail Blazers, 138-117, on Tuesday night.
Williamson, returning from a one-game absence due to a sprained ankle, added nine rebounds and five assists. Hart started in place of All-Star forward Brandon Ingram, who missed his second consecutive game because of a sprained ankle.
The Pelicans trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half, but pulled within two at halftime and outscored the Blazers, 41-21, in the third quarter.
For New Orleans, JJ Redick had 20 points off the bench, Jrue Holiday had 16 points and 10 assists, Frank Jackson scored 13 and Nicolo Melli had 10.
CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard scored 20 points each to lead the Blazers, but Lillard fell well short of his leaguebest 40.3-point scoring average for the previous 12 games. He made just 6 of 16 shots from the field and missed all four of his 3-point attempts. In his most recent game against the Pelicans, in December, he scored just 18 points, making 6 of 21 shots and missing all 10 of his 3-pointers.