Visits: 8
Russell Westbrook had 19 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists as the visiting Houston Rockets defeated the Toronto Raptors 119-109 on Thursday night to snap a three-game losing streak away from home.
Houston Rockets 119-109 Toronto Raptors
2:14 Russell Westbrook had 19 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists as the visiting Houston Rockets defeated the Toronto Raptors 119-109 on Thursday night.
James Harden scored six of his 23 points in the fourth quarter after leaving the game briefly at the end of the third with a head injury.
After Harden attempted a running floater near the end of the third period, Serge Ibaka hit Harden in the head with an elbow or forearm while appearing to position himself for a potential rebound. Harden was on his back for a few minutes before going to the dressing room on his own power. He returned early in the fourth quarter.
Ben McLemore led the Rockets in scoring with 28 points while PJ Tucker added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets, Danuel House Jr had 16 points and Clint Capela had six points and 13 rebounds.
Pascal Siakam had 24 points and nine rebounds for the Raptors, who have lost two in a row. Fred VanVleet added 20 points, Kyle Lowry had 19, Norman Powell had 14 and Ibaka 10.
The Raptors cut Houston’s lead to one point less than four minutes into the fourth quarter but Harden’s three-pointer capped a 12-3 Rockets run and bumped Houston’s lead to 10 points with 6:31 remaining. Toronto cut that to six on Marc Gasol’s lay-up with 1:39 to play.
A foul call against Houston’s Austin Rivers was overturned on a challenge by the Rockets with 1:14 play and the foul was instead charged to VanVleet. Westbrook then hit a jumper for an eight-point Houston lead with 54.1 seconds left.
Philadelphia 76ers 113-119 Washington Wizards
1:57 Bradley Beal had 26 points and 10 rebounds as the Washington Wizards held on to upset the visiting Philadelphia 76ers 119-113 to end a three-game losing streak.
Rookie Rui Hachimura had a team-high 27 points and Davis Bertans added 25 points, including a career-high seven three-pointers for the Wizards, who had lost three straight.
Joel Embiid totaled 26 points and 21 rebounds (along with eight turnovers) and Tobias Harris scored 33 points for the Sixers, who had won four straight and eight of nine.
The Wizards led by 10 after three quarters and Bertans made it 98-85 with a three-pointer early in the fourth and Troy Brown Jr’s floater made it 102-87 with 9:26 remaining.
Embiid’s lay-up cut the deficit to 102-93 with 7:01 left and Ben Simmons’ tip-in followed by his driving lay-up made it a 10-0 run to cut the Wizards’ lead to five before Moe Wagner’s layup made it 104-97.
A Harris 3-pointer made it 108-103 with 3:40 left, but the Sixers got no closer the rest of the way.
Phoenix Suns 139-132 New Orleans Pelicans (OT)
2:21 Devin Booker scored 44 points as the visiting Phoenix Suns held off the New Orleans Pelicans 139-132 in overtime. Booker made 13-of-24 field-goal attempts, including 5-of-11 on three-pointers, and all 13 free throws to lead six Suns in double figures.
Frank Kaminsky added 20 points, including a game-high six in overtime. Cameron Johnson scored 18, Kelly Oubre Jr had 14 points and 15 rebounds, Ricky Rubio had 13 points and 15 assists and Mikal Bridges scored 11.
Phoenix won for just the third time in 10 games, but improved to 2-1 on a four-game road trip that concludes in Houston on Saturday.
JJ Redick scored 26, Jrue Holiday had 23, Brandon Ingram added 21 before fouling out, Lonzo Ball had 20 points and 11 assists and Jaxson Hayes scored 17 for the Pelicans, who lost their seventh game in a row since a 124-121 victory at Phoenix on November 21.
Hayes started the scoring on overtime by making a free throw before Phoenix scored four straight points. Ingram converted a three-point play to tie the score, but Rubio made consecutive baskets and fed Kaminsky for a dunk and a 135-129 lead.
Redick’s three-pointer cut the lead in half, but Kaminsky made two free throws with 37.8 seconds remaining for a decisive five-point edge.
Denver Nuggets 129-92 New York Knicks
1:43 Will Barton led eight Nuggets in double figures with 17 points as the visiting Denver ran away from the New York Knicks en route to a 129-92 win.
The one-sided victory allowed the Nuggets, who snapped a two-game losing streak, to pull their starters early on the front end of a back-to-back set that finds them in Boston on Friday, live on Sky Sports Arena. The Knicks lost their eighth game in a row.
Five of the eight Nuggets who scored in double figures were reserves in the team’s second-highest scoring output of the season and most one-sided margin of victory.
The Knicks seemed eager to end their skid early on, taking an 18-12 lead on a three-pointer by rookie RJ Barrett just past the midpoint of the first quarter. However, the Nuggets dominated the game’s final 42 minutes, taking the lead for good on a Juan Hernangomez three-pointer with 1:06 left in the first period.
Denver took their first 20-point lead at 58-38 on a Malik Beasley three-pointer with 2:31 remaining in the half, then extended the margin to 67-45 by half-time and coasted home in a reserves-dominated second half.
Jerami Grant chipped in with 16 points for the Nuggets, while Monte Morris had 15, Beasley and Jamal Murray 14 apiece, Hernangomez 12 and Paul Millsap 10. Denver’s Miles Plumlee had the game’s only double-double with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, while Nikola Jokic amassed 10 rebounds, eight assists and six points in just 25 minutes.
Mitchell Robinson paced the Knicks with 17 points while Marcus Morris and Bobby Portis added 10 apiece in New York’s fifth straight home defeat.
