Harden hits triple-double in Rockets win; Magic beat Jazz in Mexico; Pistons snap Celtics winning streak
Sunday 16 December 2018 07:59, UK
LeBron James posted a triple-double as the Los Angeles Lakers thrashed the Charlotte Hornets 128-100 on Saturday night.
LeBron James notched a triple-double with 24 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists before sitting out the entire fourth quarter as the visiting Los Angeles Lakers rolled to an easy 128-100 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night.
The Lakers led by as many as 16 in the first half, then turned the game into a rout with a 19-2 surge early in the third quarter. They led by as many as 36 in the second half.
For James, it was the continuation of a personal domination over teams from Charlotte. James now has a record of 47-6 against the Hornets and Bobcats during his 16-year career with the Lakers, Cleveland and Miami.
Lonzo Ball also supplied a triple-double for the Lakers with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
Kemba Walker was held to a season-low four points for the Hornets on 2-of-14 shooting from the field.
The Lakers (18-11) have now won seven of their last 10. The Hornets (14-15) completed a horrid weekend after blowing a 21-point lead in an overtime loss to the New York Knicks on Friday.
Nikola Vucevic stuffed the stat sheet in powering the Orlando Magic past the Utah Jazz 96-89 in Mexico City.
Vucevic had 15 points, 19 rebounds and five assists, and Evan Fournier added 24 points and seven rebounds for Orlando.
Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 24 points and Derrick Favors had 21 points and eight rebounds for Utah, who have lost three of its past four.
The Jazz led by as much as 11 points in the third quarter, but Orlando turned things around in the fourth.
Mo Bamba scored with 7:36 left to put Orlando ahead 71-69, and Aaron Gordon hit a dagger three to cushion the Magic's lead to an eight-point advantage with 1:12 remaining.
Orlando went 6-for-8 from the free throw line to seal the game in the final minute.
Blake Griffin had 27 points, eight rebounds and six assists as the host Detroit Pistons snapped a six-game losing streak while ending the Boston Celtics' eight-game winning run with a 113-104 victory.
Andre Drummond posted 19 points, 20 rebounds, five blocks and three steals for Detroit.
Kyrie Irving's 26 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals led the Celtics.
Boston led 66-63 early in the second half but the Pistons scored the next 13 points.
Sparked by a Drummond three-point play, the Pistons opened the fourth with a 10-1 run.
Smart hit a corner three for Boston's first field goal of the quarter with 4:29 remaining, cutting Detroit's lead to 97-88.
Bullock's three-pointer with 3:37 left gave the Pistons a 100-90 lead.
The Celtics had a chance to cut the deficit to seven with 1:25 left but Drummond swatted a Tatum lay-up attempt to ice the game.
James Harden recorded his second consecutive triple-double while Gerald Green supplied heroics off the bench as the visiting Houston Rockets earned their third successive win and climbed back to .500 with a 105-97 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Harden finished with 32 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, sinking three free throws with 1:16 remaining to extend the Houston lead to 101-91 and mute the Grizzlies for good.
Memphis had sliced a 21-point deficit to six points on two Mike Conley free throws but got no closer.
The Grizzlies have dropped four of five games, including back-to-back contests at home.
Conley finished with 22 points and six assists while Marc Gasol added 17 points and nine rebounds.
Green scored 17 points with 4-for-4 shooting on three-pointers. Clint Capela (26 points, 10 rebounds) and Chris Paul (10 points, 10 assists) added double-doubles for the Rockets.
Kris Dunn scored 24 points and Lauri Markkanen added 23 as the Chicago Bulls recovered from a 21-point, second-quarter deficit to stun the host San Antonio Spurs 98-93.
Ryan Arcidiacono tallied 12 points for Chicago, who won for just the second time in the past 12 games. Robin Lopez added 10 points for the Bulls, who limited San Antonio to 31 second-half points.
LaMarcus Aldridge recorded 29 points and 12 rebounds, and DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points for the Spurs, who had a four-game winning streak halted. Marco Belinelli scored 17 points, and Rudy Gay added 12.
The Bulls played without leading scorer Zach LaVine (23.8 average), who injured his left ankle in Thursday's game against the Orlando Magic.
The Bulls rallied from a 19-point half-time deficit.
Bobby Portis hit a short bank shot to give Chicago a 92-91 lead with 1:39 remaining, and Dunn added a floater to make it a three-point margin with 38.8 seconds left.
DeRozan's lay-up pulled San Antonio within one with 30.2 seconds left, but Dunn swished an 18-footer to restore the lead to three with 8.3 seconds remaining.
Bryn Forbes then badly missed a tying three-point attempt with five seconds left before Dunn finished off the upset with two free throws.
Deandre Ayton scored five straight points during an 11-0 fourth-quarter run to spark the Phoenix Suns to a 107-99 win over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves.
Derrick Rose scored five straight to end the Minnesota drought and cut the Suns' lead to 96-89, but the Phoenix defense clamped down.
Phoenix came in with a league-low five wins and won consecutive games for the first time this season.
Phoenix welcomed back Devin Booker, playing in his first game after missing the previous six outings with a hamstring injury.
Booker led the Suns with 28 points on 10 of 16 from the field. He also recorded seven rebounds and seven assists.
Ayton, the top pick in this year's NBA draft, scored 18 points and had 12 rebounds.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 28 points for Minnesota, who have lost four straight. Towns also grabbed 12 boards and had four assists. Rose came off the bench and added 25 points on 11 of 16 from the field.
Paul George scored 33 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped a two-game losing streak with a 110-104 win over the visiting Los Angeles Clippers.
George has scored 30 or more points in four of his last six games and is shooting 57 per cent from the floor over the last four games after going 11-of-19 from the field on Saturday night.
Though the Thunder led for much of the night, never trailing after the midpoint of the second quarter, the Clippers stayed in the game with strong outside shooting.
Los Angeles hit 13 three-pointers, including four by Danilo Gallinari, who led the Clippers with 28 points.
Oklahoma City led by 17 points after three quarters but the Clippers cut the deficit to six with a little more than a minute to go.
The Thunder grabbed control of the game on the defensive end, forcing the Clippers into a season-high 26 turnovers.
Russell Westbrook made a big impact in the second half, though his struggles from the floor remained. He finished with 13 points, 12 assists, nine rebounds and six steals.
Sky Sports is the new home of the NBA in the UK with live coverage throughout the week, including selected live games free to all Sky subscribers via Sky Sports Mix.
And www.skysports.com/nba will be your home for news, reports, video and features throughout the season while you can follow us @SkySportsNBA
