Cleveland Cavaliers beat Charlotte Hornets to record second win of the season
Wednesday 14 November 2018 08:21, UK
James Harden scored 19 second-half points to lift the Houston Rockets to a 109-99 road victory over the Denver Nuggets.
James Harden scored 19 of his 22 points in the second half and also had 11 assists as the Houston Rockets beat the host Denver Nuggets 109-99 on Tuesday night.
Clint Capela had 24 points and nine rebounds and Chris Paul had 21 for the Rockets.
Houston have won two straight games amid a roster shakeup. The Rockets were playing their third game without Carmelo Anthony, who is expected to be released by the organisation. Anthony averaged 13.4 points in 10 games with Houston but the team and the forward decided to amicably end their partnership early into the season.
Monte Morris led Denver with 19 points, Jamal Murray and Gary Harris scored 15 each and Nikola Jokic had 14 points and 12 rebounds. The Nuggets have lost four in a row and eight straight to Houston.
Denver took a 55-54 lead at half-time but the Rockets grabbed the lead with a big third quarter. After Jokic's putback cut Houston's lead to 71-70, Capela converted a three-point play, Harden had two free throws and a three-pointer and Capela hit a layup to give the Rockets an 81-74 lead.
Eric Gordon capped the 15-6 run to end the period with a layup that made it 86-76 heading into the fourth.
Denver were able to get within 89-85 early in the fourth and then 93-89 on Murray's jumper before Harden took over.
He started with two free throws, drove through the defense for a pair of layups and then pulled up for a 25-foot three-pointer to give Houston a 102-91 lead.
He also drew an offensive foul on Paul Millsap when the Nuggets were trying to get back into the game.
The Nuggets brought back Jokic but he had a shot blocked by Harden.
Harden then hit a layup and finished the night with an assist to Capela on a dunk that gave Houston a 15-point lead with 3:10 left.
Jordan Clarkson scored 24 points off the bench and Tristan Thompson had 21 rebounds as part of a double-double as the injury-ravaged Cleveland Cavaliers came together for a resounding 113-89 thumping of the visiting Charlotte Hornets.
It was only the second win of the season for the Cavaliers, who started strong and finished at 52.9 per cent shooting from the field.
David Nwaba added 18 points as a reserve. Rodney Hood and Collin Sexton each scored 16 points, while JR Smith chipped in with 13 points. Thompson scored 11 on 5-of-6 shooting.
Cleveland drained 13 baskets from three-point range.
Jeremy Lamb top-scored for the Hornets with 22 points, who shot 34.7 per cent from the field. Charlotte had only nine turnovers, but the offensive problems were glaring.
Most notably, guard Kemba Walker was limited to seven points on 2-of-16 shooting from the field. He had been one of the top scorers in the league early in the season, but shot 1-for-7 on threes in this game.
Overall, the Hornets were 8-for-41 on three-point attempts. Their starters were 5-for-22.
The injury-riddled Cavaliers were without forwards Kyle Korver (sore foot) and Cedi Osman (back spasms). This came after injuries to Kevin Love, George Hill and Sam Dekker took a big dent out of the roster.
Kevin Durant scored 29 points and Jonas Jerebko recorded a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double in place of the suspended Draymond Green to help the Golden State Warriors pull away from the Atlanta Hawks for a 110-103 victory.
Green was suspended for the game for conduct detrimental to the team in the wake of a run-in he had with Kevin Durant after Monday's overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
The Warriors also played without Stephen Curry, who sat out his third straight game with a strained groin.
Durant led the Warriors with 29 points. Thompson had 24 and Quinn Cook, starting in place of Curry, chipped in with 18 as Golden State improved to 3-0 this season in games immediately following a loss.
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