Harden scores 42 points to help Rockets beat Celtics
BOSTON (AP) — James Harden had 42 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter and the Houston Rockets held on the beat the Boston Celtics 115-104 on Sunday for their fifth straight victory.
Harden made six 3-pointers and scored 40 or more points for the 24th time this season. Houston entered the day in fifth place in the Western Conference standings, a game behind of fourth-place Oklahoma City.
Eric Gordon added 32 points and had eight 3-pointers.
Boston has lost five of last six. Kyrie Irving led the Celtics with 24 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Al Horford finished with 19 points.
CHICAGO (AP) — Alex Len scored a season-high 28 points and Atlanta beat Chicago, two days after the Bulls outlasted the Hawks 168-161 in quadruple overtime in Atlanta
Len finished three points shy of his career high. He also made a personal-best five 3-pointers.
Trae Young scored 18 before getting ejected early in the third quarter for taunting Chicago’s Kris Dunn for his second technical foul. Lauri Markkanen led Chicago with 19 points.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rookie Landry Shamet scored all of his 21 points on 3-pointers, Danilo Gallinari added 20 and Los Angeles sent New York to its 50th loss of the season.
Shamet and Gallinari combined for 27 of the Clippers‘ 38 points in the first quarter when they raced to a 38-20 lead. Shamet scored 18 points in the opening 12 minutes. He tied the franchise record for threes in a quarter (six) and a half (seven), and set a franchise rookie record for 3s in a single game.
Damyean Dotson and Noah Vonleh each had 17 points for New York.
TRAIL BLAZERS 118, HORNETS 108
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Rodney Hood scored 27 points, Jusuf Nurkic added 26 points and 15 rebounds and Portland beat Charlotte.
Damian Lillard had 23 points to help the Trail Blazers win for the sixth time in seven games. Jeremy Lamb had 23 points, and Kemba Walker added 18 points and a season-high 12 assists for the Hornets
