Patrick Patterson scored 20 points, while Chandler Parsons and Jeremy Lin had 19 apiece as the Houston Rockets beat the Utah Jazz 124-116 at home on Saturday.
James Harden finished with 18 points for the Rockets, who shot 55 percent (46 of 83) and hit half of their three-point shots at 11 of 22. Greg Smith and Carlos Delfino each scored 13.
Gordon Hayward had 13 of his 21 points in the second half, and Al Jefferson and Randy Foye each scored 20 for Utah. The Jazz lost despite shooting 51 percent (48 of 94) overall and going 11 for 20 from three-point range.
Omer Asik had 14 points and 12 rebounds for Houston. He briefly left the game after taking an elbow from Hayward.
The Rockets have won five straight home games.
HEAT 102, NETS 89
In Miami, Dwyane Wade scored a season-high 34 points, LeBron James added 21 points and Miami rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat Brooklyn.
Ray Allen scored 13 and Norris Cole finished with 12 for the Heat, who won their sixth straight and remained atop the Eastern Conference. Miami held the Nets to 30 points in the second half.
Andray Blatche scored 20 points for Brooklyn, which had won five in a row. Gerald Wallace had 13 points, Joe Johnson added 12 and Deron Williams finished with 10 points and 12 assists.
The Nets lost to Miami for the 12th straight time.
In other games, it was:
‧ Spurs 99, Grizzlies 95
‧ Trail Blazers 118, Cavaliers
117, 2OT
‧ Thunder 100, Hornets 79
‧ Bucks 91, Celtics 88
‧ Bulls 93, 76ers 88
‧ Mavericks 92, Pistons 77
‧ Warriors 103, Pacers 92
‧ Clippers 116, Kings 81
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
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