Harden and Booker duel as Rockets beat Suns; Pacers hold off Knicks after late missed throw; Mitchell leads strong team effort by Jazz in Grizzlies win
Sunday 8 December 2019 13:42, UK
Ben Simmons scored a career-high 34 points as the Philadelphia 76ers remained undefeated at home with a convincing 141-94 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.
Ben Simmons scored a career-high 34 points - 26 of them in the first half - as the Philadelphia 76ers remained undefeated at home with a convincing 141-94 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday.
Simmons made 12 of 14 shots from the floor, including scoring his second-ever NBA three-pointer, while Trey Burke and Mike Scott each chipped in 21 points for the 76ers who improved to 11-0 at home after posting their ninth win in 11 games.
Scott scored 16 of his points in the first half while playing in place of All-Star center Joel Embiid, who reported discomfort in his hip following Philadelphia's 119-13 loss to the Washington Wizards on Thursday.
Darius Garland finished with a team-high 17 points for Cleveland, Tristan Thompson added 12 and Kevin Love returned from a one-game absence due to illness to finish with six points, after reports emerged the team will be open to trade offers for the five time All-Star.
James Harden single-handedly outscored the visiting Phoenix Suns 17-10 over a key stretch of the fourth quarter to help the Houston Rockets to their 12th straight win over their Western Conference rival, 115-109.
Harden lost his personal duel with Devin Booker, one that featured a technical foul on each player, 35-34, but came through down the stretch for the Rockets, who rallied from an early 11-point deficit and later blew a pair of 13-point leads before outlasting the guests.
Harden finished 8-for-27 from the field, 3-for-17 on threes and 15-for-18 at the line for his fourth consecutive game with 30 or more points against the Suns.
Meanwhile, Russell Westbrook contributed 24 points, a game-high 14 rebounds and 11 assists to the win to complete a triple-double. Ben McLemore complemented his fellow guards with 27 points off the bench for the Rockets, while Clint Capela added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Booker was more efficient than Harden in his offensive game, shooting 11-for-19 overall, 2-for-4 on three-pointers and 11-for-16 at the line for his game-high point total.
Ricky Rubio (10 points, game-high 13 assists) and Dario Saric (13 points, 12 rebounds) registered double-doubles for the Suns, while Kelly Oubre Jr finished with 19 points and Mikal Bridges 14, but it was the Rockets who won for the fourth time in their last five games.
Julius Randle missed a game-tying free throw with one-tenth of a second remaining as the New York Knicks were handed a 104-103 loss by the visiting Indiana Pacers in the debut of interim coach Mike Miller.
The Knicks saw their losing streak reach nine games and played their most competitive game of the skid a day after David Fizdale was fired. The Knicks had numerous chances to get their first win since November 18, but went cold down the stretch, missing 13 of their final 14 shots.
Randle made the first free throw, but his second free throw attempt was long and the game ended with New York dropping to 4-19.
The Pacers also froze down the stretch and won the game despite going scoreless for the final 5:17 and missing their final seven shots.
TJ Warren scored 25 points for the Pacers, who won for the eighth time in 10 games. Domantas Sabonis collected 19 points and 15 rebounds for his eighth straight double-double, and Indiana shot 48.2 per cent while playing without Malcolm Brogdon (sore hand).
Marcus Morris scored 25 points for the Knicks, who trailed by 11 early in the fourth quarter after losing their previous two games by a combined 81 points. Randle contributed 16 points and 12 rebounds, but the Knicks shot 40.6 per cent as the Pacers squeaked the 'W'.
Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points and the Utah Jazz notched a season-best 32 assists en route to a 126-112 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies in Salt Lake City.
Bojan Bogdanovic, Rudy Gobert and Jeff Green scored 19 points apiece as Utah won for just the second time in the past seven games.
Royce O'Neale scored 14 points, Joe Ingles had 12 points, 10 assists and four steals, and Emmanuel Mudiay added 11 points and seven assists for the Jazz. Gobert was 8-of-9 shooting and contributed 11 rebounds and five assists for Utah, who shot 56.2 per cent from the field, including 19 of 34 from three-point range.
Jaren Jackson Jr scored 26 points for Memphis, which lost for the ninth time in the last 10 contests. Grayson Allen and Jae Crowder tallied 13 points apiece for the Grizzlies who were without rookie point guard Ja Morant as he missed his fourth straight game with a back injury.
Utah played without point guard Mike Conley (hamstring) for the second consecutive contest.
Luka Doncic scored 26 points as Dallas stayed hot while the New Orleans Pelicans remained cold in the Mavericks' 130-84 victory Saturday afternoon.
Boban Marjanovic added 15 points and 16 rebounds, Tim Hardaway Jr and Jalen Brunson scored 14 points each, Kristaps Porzingis had 13 and Seth Curry 11 as Dallas won for the 10th time in 11 games and New Orleans lost its eighth consecutive game.
Doncic had nine assists and six rebounds and played just 26 minutes in the lopsided game after needing just 28 minutes to score 33 points and grab 18 rebounds in the Mavericks' 118-97 victory at New Orleans four days earlier. Dallas also beat New Orleans 123-116 in the Pelicans' home opener.
JJ Redick led the reeling Pelicans with 15 points, Jrue Holiday and Brandon Ingram scored 14 each and rookie Jaxson Hayes had 11.
