Celtics beaten in Brooklyn; Mitchell scores 28 as Jazz beat Pistons; Hornets' Parker victorious on Spurs return
Tuesday 15 January 2019 11:30, UK
James Harden scored a season-high 57 points as the Houston Rockets trounced the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night.
James Harden scored a season-high 57 points as the hosts Houston Rockets survived their first game without center Clint Capela, pulling away in the second half for a 112-94 victory over the reeling Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night.
Harden recorded his 17th consecutive 30-point game, the longest such streak since Wilt Chamberlain had a 20-game run in 1964. Kobe Bryant had a stretch of 16 straight 30-point games in 2003.
One night after the Rockets lost Capela to a right thumb injury, Harden shot 17-of-33 from the floor, including 6-of-15 on three-point tries, while converting 17-of-18 free throws. He added nine rebounds and two steals to carry the Rockets for a lengthy stretch, although Houston didn't fully extend its margin until several others contributed from deep in the third quarter.
Houston's Danuel House Jr tallied 15 points and Gerlad Green scored 14 points, 12 of them in the second half. Rivers added 11 points as Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni notched his 600th career victory.
Garrett Temple and Mike Conley scored 14 each for the Grizzlies, who have dropped eight of their past nine games.
D'Angelo Russell scored 18 of his 34 points in the third quarter as the Brooklyn Nets snapped a 10-game head-to-head losing streak to the Boston Celtics by dominating the third quarter in a 109-102 victory in New York.
The Nets pulled away by outscoring Boston 44-21 in the third. During the period, Brooklyn shot 65.4 per cent (17-of-26) and Russell shot 7-of-11 as the Nets tied their franchise record for third-quarter points.
Russell hit 13-of-26 field-goal attempts overall, including 7-of-13 from three-point range, and recorded his sixth 30th-point game of the season.
Two of Russell's three-pointers occurred in a 15-0 run in a span of 3:20 when the Nets built a 76-59 lead. He then hit two more jumpers in the final two minutes of the period as the Nets expanded their lead to 90-66 into the fourth.
After dominating the third, the Nets wobbled down the stretch, allowing Boston to cut a 27-point deficit to 105-98 on a transition lay-up by Jaylen Brown with 88 seconds left. Brooklyn finally secured the win in the final minute.
Kyrie Irving sat out for the Celtics due to a right quad contusion. At points in the fourth quarter, he heard chants of "Kyrie's Leaving" from fans in reference to his upcoming free agency. Irving missed his fifth game of the season and Boston's Marcus Smart (illness) sat out for the first time this season.
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with a career-high 34 points while Jaylen Brown added 22.
Rookie Rodion Kurucs added 19 points for the Nets, who won for the 14th time in 19 games, while Jarrett Allen added 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Anthony Davis overcame a slow start and finished with 46 points and 16 rebounds to lead the visiting New Orleans Pelicans to a 121-117 win against the Los Angeles Clippers.
Julius Randle scored 27 points and Jrue Holiday had 19 points and eight assists for the Pelicans, who have won four of their last five games. Davis recorded his 14th straight double-double and 31st of the season.
Montrezl Harrell had 26 points and 10 rebounds for Los Angeles, who have has lost three in a row, the past two against teams with losing records.
Danilo Gallinari shot 6-for-9 from 3-point range and scored 25 points and Tobias Harris shot 5-for-7 from three-point distance and scored 21 for the Clippers, who were 18-for-36 from beyond the arc.
New Orleans improved to 6-17 on the road this season.
The Clippers trailed by 20 points with 4:54 minutes left in the third quarter, but cut the deficit to 94-88 entering the fourth after Tyrone Wallace made his first three-pointer of the season with 9.2 seconds left.
Los Angeles briefly moved ahead 101-100 on a four-point play by Gallinari with 7:47 remaining, but Darius Miller followed with a three-pointer and Davis scored in close to move New Orleans back in front 105-101, and the Clippers never got the ball back with a one-possession score.
Buddy Hield scored 19 points to pace six Sacramento players in doubles figures as the Kings earned a 115-107 victory over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers.
Bogdan Bogdanovic added 18 points off the bench and De'Aaron Fox contributed 16 points and nine assists for the Kings, who have won four consecutive home games and four of five games overall.
Damian Lillard scored 35 points for the Trail Blazers, who had won two games in a row.
Sacramento had a 58-34 advantage in bench points. Marvin Bagley III had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Harry Giles added 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting for the Kings, who shot 49.4 per cent from the field.
Portland shot only 40.2 per cent from the field and made just 10-of-31 shots from three-point range.
Willie Cauley-Stein sank two free throws to push Sacramento ahead 107-99 with 2:36 remaining. Al-Farouq Aminu's follow shot cut it to 107-101 with 2:20 left. Bogdanovic and Lillard traded jumpers to make it 109-103. Fox drilled a three-pointer to give the Kings a 112-103 lead with 1:30 to play.
CJ McCollum knocked down two free throws to bring the Blazers to within 112-105. After a Bagley free throw, Turner sank a pair at the line to make it 113-107 with 1:09 to go. Cauley-Stein's dunk with 21.9 seconds left wrapped it up for the Kings.
Donovan Mitchell scored 28 points and Rudy Gobert contributed 18 points and a career-high-tying 25 rebounds to lead the Utah Jazz to a 100-94 victory over the Detroit Pistons in Salt Lake City.
Kyle Korver scored 19 points off the bench for Utah while Joe Ingles added 13 points and matched his season high with eight assists. The Jazz earned their fourth win in a row despite committing 17 turnovers.
Blake Griffin scored 19 points while Andre Drummond chipped in 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Pistons, who lost for the eighth time in 10 games. Reggie Bullock added 13 points as Detroit fell to Utah for the second time this month, having dropped a 110-105 decision in Michigan on January 5.
Griffin converted a four-point play to cut the Jazz edge to 90-89 with 1:28 left. However, after Ingles sank two foul shots, Griffin turned the ball over on Detroit's next possession.
Mitchell then put together a three-point play to put Utah ahead 95-89 with 48.9 seconds left and they held on for victory.
Kemba Walker poured in 33 points and Jeremy Lamb added 19 as the visiting Charlotte Hornets walked past the San Antonio Spurs 108-93 to snap a three-game losing streak.
Charlotte led by just 90-87 after the Spurs' Derrick White's three-pointer with 5:39 to play but five straight points by Bismack Biyombo keyed an 8-0 run that expanded the Hornets' lead to 98-87 with 4:15 remaining.
San Antonio hit just one of its six shots in that stretch and had no answer for the Hornets in the stretch run.
Monday's game was the first in San Antonio as a member of the visiting team for Charlotte guard Tony Parker, who played for the Spurs for 17 years before signing with the Hornets in the offseason as a free agent. Parker scored eight points, all in the second half, for the Hornets in the win.
LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 28 points, while White hit for 18 and DeMar DeRozan and Patty Mills scorer 14 points each for San Antonio, who have lost two straight games.
