NBA roundup: Rockets win 14th straight

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[March 01, 2018]  James Harden scored 17 first-quarter points Wednesday night as the Houston Rockets pushed a winning streak to 14 games for the second time this season, beating the host Los Angeles Clippers 105-92.

Harden's game-high 25 points made him one of three Houston players to tally 20 or more. Clint Capela and sixth man Eric Gordon each added 22 as the Rockets upped their NBA-best record to 48-13, a half-game ahead of the Golden State Warriors.

Tobias Harris tallied 24 points and Montrezl Harrell added 22 for the Clippers, who lost for just the fourth time in 11 games since trading Blake Griffin to the Detroit Pistons.

Thunder 111, Mavericks 110 (OT)

Russell Westbrook scored 30 points and converted a go-ahead three-point play late in overtime, leading visiting Oklahoma City past Dallas.

Paul George scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Westbrook added 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Thunder, who have won three of four since the All-Star break.

Dennis Smith Jr. missed a shot on the Mavericks' final possession of overtime. Harrison Barnes led Dallas with 26 points. Mavericks veteran Dirk Nowitzki scored 12 points and became the sixth player in NBA history to reach 31,000 career points. He reached the milestone with one of his trademark step-back jumpers in the second quarter.

Pelicans 121, Spurs 116

Anthony Davis scored 26 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, and Jrue Holiday added 25 points as New Orleans came from 15 points down to beat host San Antonio.

San Antonio forward LaMarcus Aldridge's double-digit scoring streak of 59 games came to an end when he scored just eight points and sustained a right ankle sprain that kept him out of the second half.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich quickly joined his star forward in the locker room when he was ejected from the game for arguing with the officials just 47 seconds into the third quarter.

Warriors 109, Wizards 101

Golden State worked its third-quarter magic again, pulling away from host Washington in the second half.

Playing for the 11th time as a visitor in his hometown, Kevin Durant scored nine of his game-high 32 points in the third period, during which the Warriors extended a 58-56 halftime lead to 85-70.

The Warriors entered the game leading the NBA in third-quarter scoring average (30.9) and third-quarter field-goal percentage (.529). They have now outscored their opponents by a total of 1,362 points in the third period this season.

Celtics 134, Hornets 106

Kyrie Irving continued his dominance with a game-high 34 points as Boston won its fourth straight game out of the All-Star break, beating visiting Charlotte.

Irving is averaging 27 points since the break and has scored 25 or more in three consecutive games. Six of Irving's teammates also scored in double digits as Boston stayed within a half-game of Eastern Conference-leading Toronto.

Kemba Walker had 23 points and Dwight Howard added 21 for Charlotte, which had its season-high five-game winning streak snapped and was swept in its three-game season series with Boston.

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Pistons 110, Bucks 87

Stanley Johnson racked up 19 points, six rebounds and four assists after being moved to the second unit, and Detroit snapped a three-game losing streak by crushing visiting Milwaukee.

Detroit tweaked its lineup, inserting James Ennis III at small forward and moving Johnson to the bench. That gave its reserve corps a boost, as four of them reached double figures. Langston Galloway had 13 points, Eric Moreland posted career highs with 10 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, and Dwight Buycks had 12 points, four assists and four steals.

Reggie Bullock added 16 points and Andre Drummond supplied 15 points and 16 rebounds for the Pistons. Eric Bledsoe led the Bucks with 19 points and six boards.

Suns 110, Grizzlies 102

Devin Booker scored 34 points and rookie Josh Jackson had a career-high 29 as visiting Phoenix beat Memphis in a game matching teams that entered on 10-game losing streaks.

Jackson added seven rebounds and four assists and shot 10 of 13 from the foul line. Elfrid Payton had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns, who avoided their first winless month in the 50-year history of the franchise, minimum five games played.

Marc Gasol had 22 points and 13 rebounds and Andrew Harrison had 20 points for the Grizzlies, who went 0-10 in February.

Hawks 107, Pacers 102

Dennis Schroder shook off a bad start to score 14 points, including a big insurance basket with 26 seconds left, to give Atlanta a win over visiting Indiana.

Schroder scored all of his 14 points in the second half to help Atlanta break its four-game losing streak. His late layup re-established a six-point lead for the Hawks, who led by as many as 23.

Bojan Bogdanovich scored 26 points and Victor Oladipo had 22 for the Pacers.

Raptors 117, Magic 104

DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points as visiting Toronto continued its recent mastery of Orlando.

DeRozan was among six Raptors in double figures as Toronto beat Orlando for the 16th time in 19 meetings since the start of the 2012-13 season. The Raptors also won for the 11th time in their past 13 games overall.
 


Toronto's Kyle Lowry added 17 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds for his 17th double-double of the season. Evan Fournier and Mario Hezonja each scored 17 points for the Magic.

--Field Level Media

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