Howard gets 1st win over his old team
James Harden tied his season high with 38 points and Dwight Howard added 20 points and 13 rebounds to propel the Houston Rockets to a 113-99 win over the visiting Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night.
Howard got his first win against his former team as the Rockets used a big third-quarter run to take the lead and send the injury-riddled Lakers to their third straight loss and ninth in their past 10.
The Rockets trailed by a basket in the third quarter before going on a 17-2 run to take an 80-67 lead and roll to win.
Harden continued his recent torrid scoring with his third straight 30-point game. He has piled up 113 points in the past three games.
Nick Young scored 25 points to lead Los Angeles and Pau Gasol and Jodie Meeks scored 21 each.
Hawks 97, Pacers 87: Kyle Korver scored 17 points, Pero Antic added 16 and host Atlanta raced to a big lead before holding off the team with the NBA’s best record. … The Hawks snapped a three-game losing streak and extended Indiana’s misery at Philips Arena, where the Pacers haven’t won since 2006 (12 in a row). … Indiana looked very much like a squad playing its fourth game in five nights and also had dealt with travel issues because of the arctic weather. … Paul George led the Pacers with 28 points.
Clippers 111, Celtics 105: Blake Griffin’s 29 points, eight assists and six rebounds helped host Los Angeles win its second in three games since All-Star guard Chris Paul was injured. … Jamal Crawford added 26 points and six assists for the Clippers. Avery Bradley and Jordan Crawford had 24 points each to lead the Celtics.
Spurs 112, Mavericks 90: Tony Parker scored 25 points and Tim Duncan had 16 points and 13 rebounds as host San Antonio cruised. … Marco Belinelli had 17 points, Kawhi Leonard added 12 points and Patty Mills scored 11 for San Antonio (28-8), which recaptured the West’s best record ahead of Oklahoma City (27-8). … Monta Ellis had 21 points as Dallas lost its seventh straight to the Spurs.
Suns 104, Timberwolves 103: Goran Dragic had 26 points, nine assists and six rebounds and Gerald Green’s baseline jumper with 3.9 seconds left lifted visiting Phoenix to the win after it trailed by six with just over 90 seconds to play. … Channing Frye scored 22 points and hit five three-pointers and Green finished with 14 points for the Suns. … Kevin Martin scored 20 points for the Wolves, but his runner at the buzzer clanked off the rim.
Trail Blazers 110, Magic 94: Nicolas Batum had 14 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 14 assists for his fourth career triple-double and host Portland handed Orlando its fifth straight loss. … LaMarcus Aldridge had 36 points and nine rebounds for the Blazers. … Arron Afflalo had 22 points for the Magic.
Raptors 112, Pistons 91: Kyle Lowry had 21 points and nine assists, Jonas Valanciunas had 16 points and 11 rebounds as host Toronto handed slumping Detroit its sixth consecutive loss. … DeMar DeRozan shook off a slow start to finish with 19 points and Terrence Ross had 17 for the Raptors, who went 31 for 34 from the free-throw line.
Wizards 102, Pelicans 96: Trevor Ariza scored 21 points and John Wall added 20 to lead Washington, which has won six of its past seven road games. … Eric Gordon scored 23 points and Anthony Davis 21 for New Orleans.