Portland Trail Blazers’ guard Mo Williams (25) shoots the ball during the second half against the Denver Nuggets in their NBA game at Pepsi Center yesterday.
SACRAMENTO, California: James Harden scored 22 of his season-high 43 points in the opening quarter as the Rockets built a 31-point lead in the first 14 minutes en route to a huge win over the Sacramento Kings in their NBA game yesterday.
Dwight Howard added 20 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes, and Houston (39-18) won for the ninth time in 10 games.
Rudy Gay scored 25 points to pace the Kings (20-37), who were trying to match a season-high three-game winning streak.
Center DeMarcus Cousins finished with 16 points and six rebounds for Sacramento, but was ejected after picking up two technical fouls in the second quarter.
Cousins has been issued an NBA-high 15 technical fouls this season, and is one shy of receiving a one-game suspension. He led the NBA last season, too, collecting 17.
Minnesota center Kevin Love had 33 points, 13 rebounds and narrowly missed out on a second triple-double in a week with nine assists as the Timberwolves rallied from eight points down in the fourth quarter to beat the Phoenix Suns. Love’s six straight games with 30 or more points extended his own franchise record. It was also his 11th straight double-double.
Rookie forward Shabazz Muhammad added a career-high 20 points and forward Corey Brewer had 18 for the Timberwolves, who won for the fourth time in the last five games.
Markeiff Morris had 24 points off the bench to lead the Suns, who lost back-to-back home games after winning three straight coming out of the All-Star break.
Guard Damian Lillard tallied 31 points and nine assists, center Robin Lopez had 12 points and 10 rebounds and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Denver Nuggets.
Forward Paul George scored 20 points and guard George Hill added 14, leading the Indiana Pacers to a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.
The victory was the first for the Pacers (43-13) over the Lakers at home since 2008 and it was their NBA-best 27th win at home this season.
George, who this year became just the third All-Star Game starter in Pacers history, turned the third quarter into his own highlight video.
He scored 12 points in the quarter, had three rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot. George’s offensive punch turned a three-point Pacers halftime edge into a 21-point blowout.
Kent Bazemore scored a career-best 23 points for the Lakers (19-38) in just his second start.
Chicago guard Kirk Hinrich made 6-of-7 free throws in the final 43 seconds to give the Bulls a win over the Atlanta Hawks.
Hinrich, who scored 14 points, made three free throws with 43.2 seconds remaining to put Chicago ahead for good. It was the sixth win in seven games for the Bulls, who won all three meetings with Atlanta this season.
Chicago (30-26) got 22 points from forward Mike Dunleavy and 20 points and 12 rebounds from center Joakim Noah.
All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan fired in a game-high 33 points in the Toronto Raptors’ victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Raptors (32-25) won their third consecutive game, and second over the Cavs in the last five days. The Cavs (22-36) have lost three in a row. Guard Kyrie Irving paced the Cavs with 25 points and nine assists.
John Wall scored 27 points and forward Trevor Ariza had 22 as the Washington Wizards downed the Orlando Magic for their season-high fourth straight victory.
Playing without injured forward Nene, the Wizards (29-28) had four starters score at least 21 points, including center Marcin Gortat, who had 21 points and 10 rebounds. Victor Oladipo scored 26 points and forward Maurice Harkless had 22 for the Magic (17-42).
Reuters
