Indiana Pacers’ point guard George Hill (left) in action against Los Angeles Lakers’ Kendall Marshall in the second half of their NBA game at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, yesterday.
HOUSTON: Dwight Howard helped overcome the loss of leading scorer James Harden as the Houston Rockets posted a 97-90 win over San Antonio to sweep the season series from the Spurs.
Howard shook off a slow start yesterday to finish with 23 points and 16 rebounds for the Rockets who also won the previous two contests against the Spurs this season.
Houston had to play without top gun Harden who was out with a thumb injury. Like Howard, Terrence Jones also stepped up with 21 points and nine rebounds and Jeremy Lin added 18 points and eight assists in front of a crowd of 18,314 at Toyota Center arena.
The Rockets took the series from San Antonio this season for the first time since 1996-97. Tim Duncan started with the Spurs a year later.
Anthony Davis led all scorers with 30 points, seven rebounds and eight blocks in the New Orleans Pelicans’ victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Eric Gordon added 20 points, seven rebounds and a game-high nine assists for the Pelicans (19-25), who have now won three in a row. Guard Kyrie Irving paced the Cavaliers (16-29) with 23 points and five assists.
Boston (15-32) defeated the Knicks by 41 points, 114-73, on December 8.
In the rematch, Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 24 points, despite sitting out the fourth quarter of the blowout, and the Knicks (18-27) evened their eight-game homestand at 3-3.
Brandon Jennings scored 20 points — the fourth straight game he has reached the 20-point mark — and the Detroit Pistons snapped a four-game losing streak with a romp past the Orlando Magic.
Josh Smith contributed 16 points for the Pistons (18-27) while guard Victor Oladipo’s haul of 19 led the Magic (12-34).
The Memphis Grizzlies led from start to finish in a pounding of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Forward Zach Randolph had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and guard Mike Conley contributed 19 points and seven assists for the Grizzlies (23-20).
Memphis won for the eighth time in the past nine contests.
LaMarcus Aldridge collected 27 points and 16 rebounds for the Trail Blazers (33-13). Portland lost its second consecutive game.
The Indiana Pacers bounced back from a disappointing road loss to beat the Los Angeles Lakers.
Six Indiana players scored in double figures, led by forward David West, who had 19 points and eight rebounds as the Pacers (35-9) recovered from their 109-96 road loss to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.
The Lakers (16-30) suffered to their fifth consecutive defeat despite 21 points apiece from Pau Gasol and guard Jodie Meeks.
Washington point guard John Wall hit a tie-breaking three-pointer with 1:28 to go and the Wizards watched as the Golden State Warriors missed three long-range attempts down the stretch, allowing the Eastern Conference visitors to pull out a victory.
Beal led Washington (22-22) with 20 points. Stephen Curry led the Warriors (27-19) with 23 points but missed a three-pointer as time expired.Agencies
