Harden’s streak of 30-point games ends in win over Hawks

HOUSTON — James Harden isn’t exactly lamenting the end of his impressive scoring run.

Harden had 28 points, snapping his 32-game streak with at least 30 while the Houston Rockets beat the Atlanta Hawks 119-111 on Monday night.

He’s glad it’s over, too — especially since he had no expectation of matching Wilt Chamberlain’s 65-game streak, the longest in NBA history. Harden’s stretch with 30 or more points ranks second.

“Yeah I am. It was cool but I knew I wasn’t going to get to No. 1,” Harden said before walking away chuckling.

Houston overcame a scoring outburst from Hawks rookie Trae Young, who set career highs with eight 3-pointers and 36 points.

Harden returned after missing Saturday’s win over Golden State with a neck injury and missed all 10 3-pointers he attempted.

“This was the first time I was able to move it since a few days,” he said. “So it kind of felt good to go out there and just move it and run around. I hadn’t really done any movement or working out. I’ve been in bed really.”

He got to 28 points with 23.3 seconds left and had the ball on Houston’s last possession but did not attempt a shot from half court with the game in hand. When asked if the injury affected his shot he said: “I don’t care. Made shots, missed shots, we won the game.”

Harden last came up short of 30 points in a Dec. 11 win over Portland, when he had 29. During the streak, he scored 50 or more points four times, including a career-high 61 in a win at the Knicks on Jan. 23.

“Eventually it was going to have to end one of these days,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He’s unbelievable. He’ll start another one.”

Chris Paul added 20 points, and Eric Gordon hit four 3-pointers for 16 points.

The Hawks cut the lead to five on a basket by John Collins with about 2 1/2 minutes remaining. Harden missed his 10th 3-pointer seconds after that, but Harden was fouled on a 3-pointer on the next possession and made all of the free throws to make it 115-107.

Atlanta scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter, with five points including a long 3-pointer from Young, to cut the lead to one. P.J. Tucker got the Rockets going again when he made a 3-pointer to make it 98-94 with 8 1/2 minutes remaining.

Young’s hot shooting continued after that when he made his seventh 3 to cut the lead to one again.

Harden made four quick points later in the quarter, but Young was at it again after that, sinking his eighth 3-pointer to cut the lead to 107-102 with about five minutes left.

Young said he couldn’t appreciate his big night since the Hawks came up short.

“For me, I’ve grown up with a dad who raised me that winning is the only thing that matters,” he said. “So for me, of course you want to play well, of course you want to do well in the game and help your team, but at the end of the day I don’t feel good about it.”

Vince Carter got the Hawks within one with a 3-pointer later in the third quarter before Houston scored five quick points, capped by a basket from Harden to make it 82-76 with about four minutes left in the third.

Alex Len added a 3 for Atlanta after that but the Rockets padded the lead to 90-79 with an 8-0 run.

The Hawks got within seven late in the third, but Paul made a shot while being foul and completed the 3-point play to leave Houston up 95-85 entering the fourth.

SUNS 124, HEAT 121

MIAMI — Devin Booker scored 20 points to lead seven Phoenix players in double figures, and the Suns snapped a club-record 17-game losing streak.

Former Heat guard Tyler Johnson scored 18 points for Phoenix. Jamal Crawford and Kelly Oubre Jr. each had 16 and were huge down the stretch for Phoenix, which scored 40 points in the fourth quarter. Deandre Ayton and Troy Daniels each had 14, and Josh Jackson scored 11 for the Suns.

Hassan Whiteside scored 29 points and Kelly Olynyk added 28 for the Heat, who have dropped six straight at home for the second time this season.

WARRIORS 121, HORNETS 110

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Klay Thompson scored 26 points, DeMarcus Cousins had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Golden State dealt Charlotte its second straight loss.

The Warriors took a 1½-game lead over the Denver Nuggets in the race for the best record in the Western Conference. Golden State dropped its previous game, a home loss against Houston on Saturday night.

Kevin Durant had 20 points and seven rebounds for the Warriors, who have not lost back-to-back games since Dec. 27. It was an off night for Stephen Curry in his return to his hometown, finishing with 16 points on 4-of-14 shooting from 3-point range.

Cody Zeller made 13 of 14 shots from the field and finished with a career-high 28 points to lead the Hornets.

NETS 101, SPURS 85

NEW YORK — D’Angelo Russell had 23 points, eight assists and seven rebounds, and Brooklyn forced San Antonio into perhaps its worst offensive performance of the season.

A night after their defense was absent in a loss to the Knicks, the Spurs couldn’t get their offense going. San Antonio was held to its lowest point total of the season, and the NBA’s leading 3-point shooting team at 40 percent was a season-worst 16.7 percent behind the arc.

That sent the Spurs to a third straight loss.

Joe Harris and Caris LeVert each added 15 points for the Nets, who made 19 3-pointers.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and 10 rebounds, and DeMar DeRozan added 23 points for the Spurs.

PISTONS 113, PACERS 109

DETROIT — Andre Drummond had 26 points and 16 rebounds, Blake Griffin had a triple-double and resurgent Detroit won for the seventh time in eight games.

Griffin had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for Detroit, which is battling for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Indiana lost for only the second time in 10 games.

Pacers center Myles Turner returned after missing two games with a bruised left hip. He scored seven points. Domantas Sabonis scored 23 for Indiana, but he appeared to injure his left ankle with just over a minute remaining. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 25 points

TRAIL BLAZERS 123, CAVALIERS 110

CLEVELAND — CJ McCollum scored 35 points and Portland hung on after nearly squandering a 23-point halftime lead.

The Blazers needed a 14-0 run late in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

Cleveland cut the lead to 88-84 going into the fourth and was behind 105-102 with 4:42 left, but Portland’s backcourt duo of McCollum and Damian Lillard took over from there.

Damian Lillard scored eight of his 21 points in the final period for Portland.

Cedi Osman scored 27 points for the Cavaliers, who were attempting to win three straight for the first time this season. Kevin Love, playing his fifth game since returning from foot surgery, had 18 points and 12 rebounds in 28 minutes.

BUCKS 117, BULLS 106

CHICAGO — Khris Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon scored 22 points apiece, and NBA-leading Milwaukee beat Chicago with All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo sidelined with a sore right knee.

The Bucks overcame a sluggish start to pick up their 17th win in 19 games.

The Bucks picked up their eighth straight road win — their best streak since a nine-game run during the 1981-82 season.

Nikola Mirotic scored 13, and the Bucks moved a season-high 32 games over .500.

Lauri Markkanen and Robin Lopez each scored 26 for Chicago, which saw its three-game win streak halted.

GRIZZLIES 110, LAKERS 105

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Mike Conley had 30 points, including key free throws in the final minute, Jonas Valanciunas finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Memphis put another dent in Los Angeles’ playoff hopes.

LeBron James had 24 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists but made only 8 of 23 shots. Brandon Ingram led the Lakers with 32 points, and Kyle Kuzma finished with 22 as Los Angeles lost its fourth of five.

Joakim Noah had 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Avery Bradley scored 15 points for Memphis, which ended a four-game skid.

TIMBERWOLVES 112, KINGS 105

MINNEAPOLIS — Karl-Anthony Towns had 34 points and 21 rebounds in his return from the concussion protocol, helping Minnesota hold off Sacramento.

Derrick Rose added 20 points and Tyus Jones pitched in 16 points, eight assists and three steals for the Timberwolves, who split the previous two games without Towns, while he recovered following a highway crash last week involving the car he was riding in . The accident ended Towns’ streak of 302 consecutive starts to begin his NBA career.

Rookie Marvin Bagley III had 25 points and 11 rebounds and De’Aaron Fox scored 23 points for the Kings (31-29), who like the Timberwolves (29-31) are just below the cut for the Western Conference playoffs with the Los Angeles Lakers between them.

76ERS 111, PELICANS 110

NEW ORLEANS — Tobias Harris scored 29 points, Ben Simmons had 14 points and 12 assists, and Philadelphia narrowly held off New Orleans.

Sixers 7-foot-3 reserve Boban Marjanovic had 12 points, 10 rebound and two blocks in less than 22 minutes to help fill the void in the middle created by the absence of 7-foot All-Star Joel Embiid, who has missed all three of Philadelphia’s games since the All-Star break.

Marjanovic needed assistance getting off the court and was taken to the locker room after getting tangled up with a pair of Pelicans players in the paint with just more than a minute left.

Anthony Davis scored 18 points in 21 minutes, but was taken out of the game for good with 5:11 left in the third quarter. Jrue Holiday had 22 points and Julius Randle added 19 points and 14 rebounds for the Pelicans, who trailed by as many as 17 points before their comeback bid fell just short.

CLIPPERS 121, MAvericks 112

LOS ANGELES — Montrezl Harrell scored a career-high 32 points, Lou Williams added 21 and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Dallas Mavericks 121-112 on Monday to move into the seventh spot in the Western Conference playoff picture.

Harrell had eight dunks, rattling the rim with one- and two-handed jams, including five in the first half.

Rookie Luka Doncic returned after missing two games with a sore right ankle to post his fourth triple-double for the Mavericks, who lost their fifth in a row. He had 28 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Danilo Gallinari added 20 points for the Clippers. Williams had 10 assists.

Led by Harrell and Williams, the Clippers’ bench scored 71 points.