James Harden scored 47 points and the Houston Rockets outlasted the Clippers 102-93 in a wild game that saw Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers ejected in the fourth quarter Wednesday night.
Houston was up by two with about two minutes left when former Rocket Patrick Beverley fouled out. Harden made both free throws before grabbing a rebound on the other end and hitting a 3 to make it 95-88.
Beverley was given a technical foul during a timeout after the play and Harden hit the two free throws.
Rivers was then given two technical fouls and ejected to the delight of son Austin Rivers, the Houston guard who laughed and signaled for the officials to T-up his father. Doc Rivers spent several more seconds screaming at the referees before slowly walking across the court and to the locker room.
Harden made both free throws before JaMychal Green made a 3 for Los Angeles. But Harden stole the ball from Kawhi Leonard, and Tyson Chandler made a reverse dunk with 37 seconds left to make it 100-91.
Russell Westbrook added 17 points to help the Rockets win their fifth straight game. Clint Capela had 12 points and 20 rebounds before going to the locker room with about 4 1/2 minutes remaining after taking a blow to the face fighting for a rebound. Leonard led Los Angeles with 26 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
LAKERS 120, WARRIORS 94.
LeBron James had 23 points and 12 assists in three quarters, Kyle Kuzma added 22 points starting for Anthony Davis, and Los Angeles rolled past Golden State.
The Lakers improved their NBA-best record to 9-2.
Davis sat out because of a sore right shoulder after playing the night before in a victory at Phoenix.
JaVale McGee added 18 points and 17 rebounds for Los Angeles.
Former Laker D’Angelo Russell scored 21 points for Golden State. The Warriors have lost five in a row to drop to 2-10.
CELTICS 140, WIZARDS 133.
Kemba Walker scored 25 points and Boston won its ninth straight, overcoming 44 points from Bradley Beal to beat Washington.
Jayson Tatum bounced back from a historically bad shooting night with 23 points, Jaylen Brown had 22 and Enes Kanter added 13 points and nine rebounds. Boston has not lost since the opener at Philadelphia.
Rui Hachimura scored 21 points Washington, and former Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas had 18 points and had seven assists. The Wizards have lost three straight and six of seven.
RAPTORS 114, TRAIL BLAZERS 106.
Pascal Siakam scored 36 points, Fred VanVleet had 30 and Toronto beat Portland.
Siakam scored 13 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter to help close out the Trail Blazers in a bounce back from Monday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Rodney Hood led the Blazers with 25 points.
Damian Lillard, who entered Wednesday trailing only James Harden in points per game, had nine points in his worst outing of the season. He was 2 for 12 from the field.
TIMBERWOLVES 129, SPURS 114.
Andrew Wiggins had 30 points on 12-for-23 shooting and Minnesota handed the San Antonio its third straight loss.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, giving Minnesota’s maximum-contract duo a third consecutive game with 25-plus points apiece. Towns and Wiggins are the only teammates in the NBA averaging more than 25 points per game. Wiggins added eight rebounds and seven rebounds,.
DeMar DeRozan had 27 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 23 points for San Antonio.
MAGIC 112, 76ERS 97.
Nikola Vucevic had 25 points and 12 rebounds and Orlando used a big fourth quarter to beat Philadelphia.
Aaron Gordon added 18 points and 13 rebounds, and D.J. Augustin had 12 points and eight assists.
Josh Richardson led the 76ers with 19 points, and Ben Simmons added 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists. 76ers center Joel Embiid sat out because of a sore left knee.
GRIZZLIES 119, HORNETS 117.
Rookie Ja Morant scored on a driving left-handed layup with 0.7 seconds left to lift Memphis.
In his first NBA game in the Carolinas, Morant had his first double-double with 23 points and 11 assists to help the Grizzlies win consecutive games for the first time this season. The South Carolina native was 10 of 15 from the field.
Jonas Valanciunas added 18 points and 13 rebounds. Terry Rozier tied a career-high with 33 points on seven 3-points for Charlotte.q
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