Harden, Paul lead Rockets past Kings
The Kings kept one of the NBA’s best offenses in check most of the night, but James Harden and Chris Paul were still too much as the Houston Rockets held on for a 100-91 victory Wednesday at Toyota Center in Houston.
It was Houston’s 10th consecutive win.
The Kings lost guard De’Aaron Fox with less than a minute to play when he was bumped while in the air and landed on his face. He was helped up and walked off the court alongside the medical staff. Fox needed stitches above his right eye and chin.
The Rockets shot just 39.8 percent, but thanks to Harden (28 points, nine rebounds, nine assists) and Paul (19 points, seven assists), Houston (44-13) had enough to hold off the Kings.
Bogdan Bogdanovic led Sacramento (18-39) with 20 points. Garrett Temple had 13 points, while Buddy Hield and Justin Jackson each scored 12.
Warriors waste Kevin Durant's 50-point night in loss to Trail Blazers
PORTLAND, Ore. — Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr returned toward holding his clipboard and leading the huddles. Meanwhile, the Warriors returned toward slow starts and sloppy play. And unlike what they have shown for most of the 2017-18 season, the Warriors could not recover.
The Warriors suffered a 123117 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday, an appropriate development considering the Warriors have openly wished the All-Star break started almost two weeks ago. That moment will start this weekend where Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green will all play on Sunday in Los Angeles.
On Wednesday, though, the Warriors' talent could not overcome what the Blazers (3226) offered. The Warriors (4414) trailed by as many as 20 points. They labored through a 40-27 deficit following the first quarter. And they looked sluggish most of the way.
But the Warriors have met few challenges they could not match. After all, the Warriors overcame large first-quarter deficits to Philadelphia (19) and New Orleans (14, 13) and won this season. So it only seemed expected for the Warriors to be within striking dis-
tance up through the final moments.
The Warriors could not prevail then, though.
Durant surprisingly missed an open pull-up jumper as the Warriors trailed, 117-115, with 46.5 seconds remaining. After Portland guard CJ McCollum missed a stepback jumper, Thompson missed a wideopen 3-pointer. After Portland guard Evan Turner made a pair of foul shots, Curry made a pair to cut Portland's lead to 119-117 with 6.3 seconds left. But after Al-Farouq Aminu made two more foul shots, Durant was called for a turnover for stepping out of bounds.
Such miscues overshadowed Durant's 50-point night on 17-of-27 shooting in 37 minutes. Such miscues coincided with the Warriors' inefficiency elsewhere. The Warriors shot only 26 of 62 from the field. Curry (17 points) and Thompson (17) went a combined 12-of-29 overall. Meanwhile, Portland guard Damian Lillard nearly canceled out Durant's output with 44 points on 14-of-25 shooting.
And with all that, the Warriors hope the All-Star break will leave them rested and motivated.
The Warriors plan to reevaluate Warriors rookie forward Jordan Bell next week at some point after the NBA AllStar break. Bell has missed the past 13 games because of inflammation in his left ankle.
"It's been tough. I obviously want to play and practice with the team," Bell said. "But it's also been a learning moment being able to watch the game, observe everything and see how we're playing and see what the things I can bring when I come back."