Rockets top Clippers to clinch division title
There was no celebrating in Houston’s locker roomon Thursday night after the Rockets clinched the Southwest Division title.
“It’s good, but not this year. We want that No. 1 seed and that’s the main goal right now,” Eric Gordon said.
James Harden scored 24 points, Gordon added 23, and the Rockets outlasted the LosAngeles Clippers for a 101-96 victory inHouston. The victory, coupled with a loss by the Pelicans to the Spurs, wrapped up the division.
The Rockets have won 27 of their last 30 games and need just one win to match their total of 55 from last season. But Houston has no intention of letting up in these last 14 games as the Rockets try to remain ahead of Golden State for the top seed in theWestern Conference.
“It was a good win for us,” Chris Paul said. “We know that team over there is fighting for their playoff lives and we knew we were going to get a good shot from them.”
The Clippers scored six straight points, with four from Austin Rivers, to cut the lead to a basket with less than a minute left. But on the next possession, Harden stepped back and knocked down a long 2-pointer withRivers in his face to make it 100-96.
Riversmissed a 3-pointer after that before Harden made one of two free throws with 6.2 seconds left to secure the victory.
It’s Houston’s third straight win and snaps a three-game winning streak for the Clippers.
Clippers coach Doc Rivers didn’t seem too happy withthe officiating after the game.
“It was 24- 8 in free throws,” Rivers said, though Houston actually shot 23. “That’s a joke. That is a complete joke. I thought our guys drove and got hit all game, and ( Lou) Williams down the stretch got killed on a play, and no call ... our guys played their hearts out, but for them to shoot that many more free throws than us, and we’re
the team attacking, it just doesn’t make basketball sense to me.” RAPTORS 106, PACERS 99 » DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points, Jonas Valanciunas added 16 points and 17 rebounds, and visiting Toronto rallied late to get past Indiana for its 10th straight victory. The Raptors need one more win to tie the franchise’s longest winning streak. They haven’t lost since Feb. 23 and broke a tie with the 2016-17 squad for longest roadwinning streak, which is nowat eight. TRAIL BLAZERS 113, CAVA
LIERS 105 » CJ McCollum scored 29 points and host Portland won its NBA-best 11th straight game. Damian Lillard added 24 points for the Blazers, on their longest run since also winning 11 in a row in 2013. It was the Blazers’ eighth straight win at home. LeBron James had 35 points, including a highlight-reel dunk in the first quarter that had the fans at theModa Centermomentarily stunned.
SPURS98, PELICANS93 » LaMarcus Aldridge scored 25 points, Dejounte Murray had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and host San Antonio overcame another late rally to beat New Orleans.
76ERS 118, KNICKS 110 » Joel Embiid had 29 points and 10 rebounds, Ben Simmons finished with a triple- double, and visiting Philadelphia used a big final period to rally past New York. NUGGETS 120, PISTONS 113 » Nikola Jokic had 23 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his eighth triple- double of the season, andhost Denver’s playoff hopes received a much-needed boost. JAZZ116, SUNS88 » Donovan Mitchell scored 23 points and Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 13 rebounds to lead host Utah to its eighth consecutive victory. HORNETS 129, HAWKS 117 » DwightHowardscored20of his season-high 33 points in the second half, Nicolas Batumhad a triple-double, and Charlotte won in Atlanta. BULLS 111, GRIZZLIES 110 » Antonio Blakeneymade two of three free throws with 1.8 seconds left as visiting Chicago handed Memphis its 19th straight loss.