PHILADELPHIA (AP) - James Harden scored 51 points and had 13 rebounds and 13 assists to lead the Houston Rockets to a 123-118 victory over Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.
Harden has at least 30 points and 10 assists in 18 games this season. The NBA’s third-leading scorer entering the game, Harden finished two points shy of tying his career high. He was 16 for 28 from the field, including 6 for 11 from 3-point range, and made 13 of 14 free throws.
Harden scored 19 points in the third quarter. Nene added 21 points to help the Rockets snap a two-game skid and win for just the fourth time in 10 games.
Embiid had 32 points and seven rebounds in his return to the lineup after missing the last two games with a knee contusion.
HEAT 100, BULLS 88
CHICAGO (AP) - Goran Dragic had 26 points and 11 assists, Willie Reed scored 20 points and Dion Waiters added 19 to lead Miami past the Chicago for its sixth straight victory.
Dwyane Wade had 15 points to lead the Bulls, who began the day with a team meeting and ended it with a second straight frustrating loss. Wade and Jimmy Butler started the controversy when they questioned the desire of the team’s younger players following a loss to Atlanta on Wednesday. Rajon Rondo fired back a day later, criticizing Wade and Butler in an Instagram post.
All three players were fined, and Wade and Butler were held out of the starting lineup as punishment.
Butler was the first off bench and received a loud ovation from the United Center crowd when he checked in with 6:53 remaining in the first quarter. Wade also received a loud ovation when he entered 28 seconds later. Rondo, though, was greeted by some boos when he checked in with 5:05 to go in the first.
CAVALIERS 124, NETS 116
CLEVELAND (AP) - LeBron James scored 31 points, Kyrie Irving added 28 and Cleveland ended a turbulent week with a victory over Brooklyn.
The NBA champions had lost three straight and six of eight while James questioned whether the organization was fully committed to winning a second title.
The Cavaliers took advantage of a timely visit from the NBA’s worst team. Irving scored 20 points, and James added 10 in the third quarter when Cleveland built an 86-62 lead.
Kevin Love, named to the All-Star team Thursday, had 13 points and 14 rebounds.
Sean Kilpatrick led Brooklyn with 18 points, and Bojan Bogdanovic had 17. The Nets have lost four straight and 15 of their last 16.
PELICANS 119, SPURS 103
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Jrue Holiday scored 23 points, Anthony Davis had 16 points and tied a career high with 22 rebounds, and New Orleans snapped San Antonio’s five-game winning streak.
The Spurs had been winning lately despite having starters Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker sidelined with nagging injuries. San Antonio fell with both back on the floor. Leonard, returning from sore left hand, scored 23, but showed some rustiness from the field, missing 10 of 16 shots. Parker hit only two of seven shots and one missed was a momentum stalling air ball 3 inside the final five minutes.
Terrence Jones scored 21 points, and Solomon Hill added 16 points for New Orleans.
CELTICS 128, MAGIC 98
BOSTON (AP) - Isaiah Thomas had 21 points and eight assists in just three quarters, extending his streak at least 20 points to 30 games and helping Boston beat Orlando.
Rookie Jaylen Brown added a career-high 20 points, Jae Crowder had 19 and Kelly Olynyk made all seven shots he attempted, finishing with 16 points.
Nikola Vucevic and Damjan Rudez each had 14 points for the Magic.
KNICKS 110, HORNETS 107
NEW YORK (AP) - Carmelo Anthony shook off some boos and a rough shooting night to score 18 points, Courtney Lee added 16 against his former team and New York beat Charlotte.
Anthony finished 8 for 26 from the field and had just one basket in the fourth, but it was a big one, a jumper with 13 seconds left and the Knicks clinging to a two-point lead.
Kemba Walker had 31 points and 10 rebounds for Charlotte.
PACERS 115, KINGS 111, OT
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Paul George scored 12 of Indiana’s last 16 points and finished with 33 and the Pacers overcame a 16-point third-quarter deficit to beat Sacramento.
Jeff Teague had 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for Indiana. The Pacers won their second straight and swept the season series with the Kings for the first time since 2013-14.
DeMarcus Cousins had 26 points and 16 rebounds, and Darren Collison also had 26 points for Sacramento. The Kings have lost six of eight.
TRAIL BLAZERS 112, GRIZZLIES 109
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Damian Lillard scored 33 points, including 13 straight for Portland late in the fourth quarter, and the Trail Blazers held off Memphis.
Allen Crabbe had 23 points to help the Blazers win three straight for the first time since early December. Marc Gasol, coming off a career-high 42 points Wednesday night in a victory over Toronto, scored 32 points for the Grizzlies. Zach Randolph added 17 points and 13 rebounds.
RAPTORS 102, BUCKS 86
TORONTO (AP) - Kyle Lowry had 32 points, Norman Powell added 19 and Toronto beat Milwaukee to snap its longest losing streak of the season at five games.
Still without injured star DeMar DeRozan, Toronto rolled to its seventh straight victory against the Bucks and 13th in the last 14 meetings. Jabari Parker had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Bucks.
WIZARDS 112, HAWKS 86
ATLANTA (AP) - Otto Porter Jr. had 21 points and 11 rebounds, John Wall scored 19 points and Washington beat Atlanta.
Washington has won three straight and 10 of 12, improving to 20-8 since Dec. 5.
Kent Bazemore scored 15 for the Hawks.
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