Paul, Rockets win in OT for injured Harden
James Harden scored 40 points before leaving with a hamstring injury late in the fourth quarter, and Chris Paul scored 15 of his 28 points in overtime as the Houston Rockets snapped a five-game skid with a 148-142 double-overtime win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night.
Los Angeles led by as many as 17, but couldn’t hold on as the team’s season-long losing streak stretched to six games.
Paul made a pair of free throws to tie it at 142 with about a minute left in the second overtime before Tarik Black blocked Kyle Kuzma’s shot on the other end to give Houston the ball back. P.J. Tucker grabbed a rebound on a miss by Paul and put it back up to put Houston on top.
Tucker blocked a 3-point attempt by Kuzma, and Paul added two more free throws to make it 146-142 with three seconds left. Paul made two more free throws after that to secure the win.
The Rockets had hoped to limit Paul’s playing time in his second game back after missing three games with a groin injury. But with Harden out, he ended up playing 42 minutes.
Julius Randle set season highs with 29 points and 15 rebounds, but fouled out with about three minutes left in overtime.
Paul had a shot to win it, but he missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
MAVERICKS 116, THUNDER 113 >> Harrison Barnes scored 24 points, Dennis Smith Jr. got 11 of his 19 points in the final 1:39 and the Dallas notched its season-best fourth straight win, beating the Oklahoma City.
Dirk Nowitzki added 13 points for Dallas, which had lost four straight in Oklahoma City and seven of nine overall against the Thunder.
Dallas won despite Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook recording his 12th triple-double of the season with 38 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists. The Thunder had been 11-3 in December before consecutive home losses to Milwaukee and Dallas to end the month.
Paul George scored 25 points and Carmelo Anthony had 21 for Oklahoma City, combining to go 8 of 14 from 3-point range. Despite their hot shooting, Westbrook took the big shots late for OKC and missed a trio of 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds. He was 0 for 4 from deep for the game.
CLIPPERS 106, HORNETS 98 >> Lou Williams scored 40 points, Blake Griffin added 25 and Los Angeles held off Charlotte.
In an offensive struggle for both teams, the Clippers outshot the Hornets 47 percent to 39 percent to win for the fifth time in six games. GRIZZLIES 114, KINGS 96 >> Tyreke Evans had 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists against his former team and Memphis beat Sacramento.
Evans shot 10 of 16 and had five 3-pointers. He spent two stints with Sacramento and was most recently with the team in 2016.
CELTICS 108, NETS 105 >> Kyrie Irving scored 28 points, Al Horford had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Boston held off Brooklyn.
Marcus Morris added 15 points, Terry Rozier scored 14 and Jaylen Brown finished with 13 points as Boston closed 2017 by winning three straight and four of five.
76ERS 123, SUNS 110 >> Dario Saric tied a season high with 27 points and Philadelphia beat Phoenix after blowing an 18-point lead in one quarter.
WIZARDS 114, BULLS 110 >> Bradley Beal scored 17 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, leading Washington past Chicago.
Beal scored 15 straight points for Washington in the fourth as the Wizards rallied from an eight-point deficit early in the period. He also had nine rebounds and tied a career high with nine assists. TIMBERWOLVES 107, PACERS 90>> Jimmy Butler had 26 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Minnesota never trailed in a victory over Indiana.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks for the Timberwolves, who have won nine of the last 12 games. SAN JOSE >>