Oladipo seriously injured as Pacers beat Raptors; Embiid and Simmons lift Sixers to narrow win over Spurs; Kyrie-less Celtics thump Cavs
Thursday 24 January 2019 10:37, UK
James Harden scored a career-high 61 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a dramatic victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Houston superstar James Harden continued his historic streak by scoring a career-high and franchise-record 61 points, but it was Eric Gordon who drained the biggest shot, a three-pointer with nine seconds left that gave the Rockets the lead for good in a wild 114-110 win over the host New York Knicks on Wednesday night.
Harden has scored at least 30 points in 21 consecutive games, the fourth-longest such streak in NBA history, behind only three authored by Wilt Chamberlain.
The 61 points are the most by a player in an NBA game this season - Kemba Walker scored 60 points for the Charlotte Hornets on November 17 - and tied for the most ever scored by a Knicks opponent at Madison Square Garden. Kobe Bryant scored 61 points for the Los Angeles Lakers on February 2, 2009.
There was little suspense regarding Harden's streak Wednesday, when he scored 19 points in the first quarter, finished the first half with 36 points and ended the third quarter with 49 points. He missed six consecutive shots before reaching 50 points with a jumper with 4:22 left.
The Rockets appeared headed for a relatively easy victory when Harden drained three free throws to give Houston a 107-101 lead with 1:08 left. However, the Knicks scored seven points in a span of 25 seconds and took the lead on Emmanuel Mudiay's second free throw with 34.9 seconds remaining.
Harden then hit two free throws to give the Rockets a 109-108 lead with 29.9 seconds to go, after which Allonzo Trier responded with a driving lay-up to put the Knicks back in front 110-109 with 20 ticks left.
Gordon then drained an open three-pointer with 11.4 seconds remaining. New York's Noah Vonleh was then stripped of possession by Gordon, who slapped the ball loose near midcourt. Harden picked up the ball and raced in for the milestone dunk that allowed him to break his previous career-high by one point.
Harden also had 15 rebounds, five steals and four assists for the Rockets. Gordon finished with 20 points.
Trier scored a career-high 31 points and added 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who have lost seven straight and 15 of 16.
Thaddeus Young scored 12 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed 15 rebounds as the Indiana Pacers held off a late rally to defeat the Toronto Raptors 110-106 in Indianapolis.
The Pacers lost guard Victor Oladipo with 4:05 left in the first half. He left on a stretcher with what the team termed a serious right knee injury, and will undergo an MRI exam Thursday. Oladipo, Indiana's leading scorer on the season, had four points, three rebounds and one assist.
Darren Collison added 17 points, and Bojan Bogdanovic had 16 points for the Pacers, who won their third game in a row. Myles Turner contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds, Domantas Sabonis had 12 points, and Tyreke Evans had 11.
Serge Ibaka had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Raptors while Kyle Lowry added 20 points and seven assists. Pascal Siakam had 16 points and nine rebounds.
Toronto overcame a 15-point third-quarter deficit to cut the Pacers lead to five with 9:17 to play in the fourth quarter on Ibaka's lay-up and free throw.
The Raptors trailed by one after Ibaka's jumper with 4:20 left, but Young came back to complete a three-point play. Ibaka's jumper trimmed the deficit to two, but Collison restored the lead to four on a jumper with 1:52 left.
Green made a three-pointer to cut the margin to one with 31.6 seconds left. Young gave Indiana a three-point lead with 10.8 seconds to go on a turnaround jumper.
Green then missed a three-point attempt and Indiana sealed the win at the foul line.
Terry Rozier, starting in place of the injured Kyrie Irving, scored 22 of his 26 points in the first half to spark the Boston Celtics to a 125-103 win over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers.
Irving sat out with flu-like symptoms but was hardly missed. Rozier, who played high school basketball in Cleveland, was perfect in the first two periods, going 8-for-8, including connecting on a buzzer-beater from 31 feet to give Boston a 65-50 lead at half-time.
Jaylen Brown added 23 points, and Jayson Tatum notched 17 points and three steals.
Marcus Smart's 23-foot three-pointer at the 6:35 mark in the second quarter gave Boston a 41-39 lead. The Celtics scored the next seven points and were never threatened the rest of the way.
Cleveland cut the deficit to 12 with a Jordan Clarkson lay-up at the end of the third period, but Boston scored the first seven points of the fourth to build the lead back to 19 at 99-80.
Ante Zizic, the former Celtic, got the start for Cleveland, and scored 19 points. Cedi Osman led Cleveland with 25 points, while Collin Sexton had 16 points.
D'Angelo Russell broke a late tie with a 15-footer and DeMarre Carroll added two key hoops, including a three-pointer, down the stretch to send the host Brooklyn Nets to a 114-110 victory over the Orlando Magic.
The fourth period featured four lead changes and six ties, the last of which occurred when Jarrett Allen converted a lay-up with 4:02 to go, creating a 104-all deadlock.
Russell gave the Nets a lead they never relinquished with his jumper with 3:37 to go, after which Carroll's three-pointer and tip-in created a five-point advantage.
Orlando got back within 111-110 on two free throws by Terrence Ross with 21.7 seconds left, but the Magic were forced to foul, and Rodions Kurucs hit one of two free throws with 15.9 seconds remaining to increase the Brooklyn lead to two.
The Magic had a chance to tie, but Nikola Vucevic was called for offensive goaltending with 3.1 seconds left. Russell then iced the win with two free throws.
Spencer Dinwiddie had a game-high 29 points and Russell 25 to go with seven rebounds and a game-high 10 assists for the Nets. Vucevic had a 21-point, game-high 14-rebound double-double for the Magic.
Tobias Harris continued his breakout season with a game-high 31 points to lead the Los Angeles Clippers past the host Miami Heat 111-99.
It was Harris' fifth 30-point outing this season, continuing an exceptionally consistent first full season with the Clippers. He has averaged more than 20 points every month this season.
The Clippers also got a boost from a pair of reserves as forward Montrezl Harrell scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and Lou Williams added 13 points to help Los Angeles bounce back from Tuesday's loss at the Dallas Mavericks.
Indeed, one night after missing 16 straight second-half shots, the Clippers were much better in the final moments. In fact, after trailing by as many as eight points in the second quarter, they outscored Miami 57-45 in the second half.
Miami was led by Hassan Whiteside's double-double (22 points and 16 rebounds). Josh Richardson added 17 points, Tyler Johnson had 15 points and Dwyane Wade had 13 points for the Heat. Wade, though, was scoreless in the second half.
Joel Embiid scored 33 points and grabbed 19 rebounds to lift the host Philadelphia 76ers past the San Antonio Spurs 122-120.
Ben Simmons secured his eighth triple-double of the season with 21 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds as the Sixers won their second in a row.
It was Embiid's 40th double-double of the season as Philadelphia managed another win without guard Jimmy Butler, who sat out with a sore wrist.
JJ Redick shot 6-of-13 from three-point range for 19 points. DeMar DeRozan led the Spurs with 26 points while Patty Mills and Rudy Gay added 17 apiece.
Marco Belinelli had a chance to tie the game or give the Spurs the lead as San Antonio had the ball with 1.1. seconds left. But Simmons knocked the ball away from Belinelli to preserve the win.
John Collins scored a career-high 35 points to pace visiting Atlanta to a 121-101 win over the Chicago Bulls, ending the Hawks' two-game losing streak.
The second-year power forward was 14-for-16 from the floor and 4-for-4 on three-point attempts. Collins added eight rebounds and two assists to help Atlanta end a five-game losing streak to Chicago.
Atlanta also got 15 points and six rebounds from Taurean Prince, 14 points and seven rebounds from Dewayne Dedmon, and 14 points and 10 rebounds from Alex Len.
The Hawks got a boost from reserve point guard Jeremy Lin, who scored 15 points. Starting point guard Trae Young only scored five points, but handed out 12 assists and had seven rebounds.
The Bulls got 23 points from Zach LaVine, the 31st time he has scored 20-plus points this season. Lauri Markkanen scored 22, the third time in four games he's scored at least 20, with six rebounds and Kris Dunn had 16 points.
Kemba Walker scored 22 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, as the visiting Charlotte Hornets added to the Memphis Grizzlies' misery with a 118-107 victory.
The Hornets opened the second half with an 11-0 run to stretch their lead to 15, and they were never seriously threatened again.
The Hornets bounced back from a 25-point loss at Indiana on Sunday and have won four of their last five. The Grizzlies have lost seven straight games and 13 of 14.
The loss ended a surreal day for the Grizzlies. First, ownership confirmed that veteran stars Mike Conley and Marc Gasol were on the trading block. Then came an afternoon fire in the Grizzlies' locker room that forced everyone to evacuate the FedEx Forum, and the Grizzlies eventually had to change locker rooms.
Neither Conley nor Gasol seemed affected by the trade news. Conley finished with 31 points on 9-of-17 shooting, and Gasol had a triple-double with 22 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists.
Nicolas Batum added 18 points for the Hornets. Jeremy Lamb and Tony Parker scored 17 each, and Marvin Williams scored 11.
Blake Griffin scored 37 points as the visiting Detroit Pistons held off a New Orleans Pelicans rally for a 98-94 victory.
Reggie Jackson added 17 points and Jon Leuer scored 11 off the bench for the Pistons. Jrue Holiday led the Pelicans with 29 points, Jahlil Okafor had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Julius Randle recorded 13 points and 13 rebounds.
The Pistons led by 10 points and halftime and they maintained a comparable margin throughout the third quarter.
The Pelicans scored the first four points of the fourth quarter and later pulled ahead 82-81 on a three-pointer by Nikola Mirotic with 7:42 to play. Detroit responded with an 11-4 run for a 92-86 lead.
A basket by Holiday and a three-pointer by Darius Miller got the Pelicans within three, giving the chance to tie the game with less than 30 seconds to play in regulation.
Frank Jackson missed a three-pointer and Randle tried to tip the rebound to Miller, but Reggie Bullock grabbed the ball and drove in for a lay-up to seal the win for Detroit.
Donovan Mitchell matched his season high of six three-pointers while scoring 35 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 114-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Salt Lake City.
Ricky Rubio recorded 17 points for the Jazz, who won for the seventh time in their past eight games. Rudy Gobert had 15 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Joe Ingles had 14 points and eight assists for Utah.
Nikola Jokic registered 28 points and matched his career high of 21 rebounds, and Will Barton contributed 22 points and nine rebounds off the bench for the Nuggets, who lost for just the fourth time in their past 14 games.
Rubio, Ingles and Mitchell buried three-pointers during an 11-2 burst that saw the Jazz open up a 79-64 advantage with 6:45 left in the third quarter.
Mitchell converted a three-point play and knocked down a three-pointer to cap an 8-0 run as Utah took a 98-86 lead with 8:11 left in the contest.
The Nuggets moved within 106-100 with four minutes left after receiving five straight points from Jokic.
The Jazz pushed their lead back to 111-102 when Crowder banked a corner three high off the glass with 3:05 left.
Denver got within 111-107 on Barton's triple with 1:27 remaining before Utah closed it out at the foul line.
