Chandler Parsons scored 17 points, Omri Casspi added 16 and Jeremy Lin 14 as the Houston Rockets overcame a double-digit deficit to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 93-86 on Monday night.
Houston (10-5) trailed for most of the night and their 93 points were a season low, but the Rockets made a 14-2 run early in the fourth quarter, pushing ahead 67-65 on a pair free throws by Casspi with 8 minutes, 26 seconds remaining.
The Rockets played without All-Star guard James Harden, who missed his second straight game with a sore left foot. They have won five of their past six.
It was the Grizzlies’ first full game since center Marc Gasol was lost indefinitely to a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee.
Memphis (7-7) had a 46-32 lead early in the third quarter, but could not hold it down the stretch.
Tayshaun Prince led Memphis with 16 points.
Houston’s offense was missing a considerable chunk of its scoring without Harden, who is averaging 24.2 points per game.
The Rockets had a miserable offensive first half without him, turning the ball over 11 times and shooting just 11 of 32 from the field (34.4 percent), including one of 11 (9.1 percent) from three-point range.
The Grizzlies closed the second quarter on a 15-6 run to take a 44-32 halftime lead.
Houston finally found some rhythm in the second half, hitting five three-pointers after starting one of 14 from behind the arc.
The bench was key in the run, with Francisco Garcia hitting a three-pointer to tie it at 65-65.
Casspi scored 11 points in the fourth quarter, while Parsons had nine. Parsons shot eight of nine from the field.
The Rockets shot 23 of 37 (62 percent) in the second half.
Memphis coach Dave Joerger said the team’s offense would change considerably with Gasol out of the lineup and at least for one night, it changed for the worse.
Gasol said pre-game he expects to be on crutches for three to four weeks before he can even start work on his return.
Kosta Koufos started in place of Gasol and had a productive night, with eight points and a season-high 13 rebounds, but Mike Conley, the Grizzlies’ leading scorer with more than 19 points per game, had a tough night, shooting just two of 14 from the field, finishing with 10 points and 10 assists.
Also on Monday, Manu Ginobili had 16 points to lead seven players in double figures as the San Antonio Spurs beat the New Orleans Pelicans 112-93 for their 11th straight victory.
Tony Parker had 14 points and seven assists, Tiago Splitter added 11 points and Tim Duncan had 10 points for San Antonio (13-1).
Reserve Marco Belinelli had 14 points, Boris Diaw added 13 points and Patty Mills 12 to keep the Spurs undefeated at home.
Ryan Anderson had 17 points, Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday each added 12 points, while Anthony Davis had 10 for New Orleans (6-7).
Portland’s LaMarcus Aldridge had 18 points and 14 rebounds for his seventh double-double this season as the Trail Blazers beat the slumping New York Knicks 102-91 for their 11th straight victory.
Utah’s Trey Burke made a key three-pointer to help the Jazz outlast Chicago 89-83 in overtime — the Bulls’ first game since learning Derrick Rose would be lost for the season.
Burke, a rookie finally enjoying extensive playing time after spending most of the season recovering from finger surgery, had 14 points and six assists. He also had five turnovers and shot five for 17, but was on the court in clutch time directing the Jazz to their second win of the season.
Carlos Boozer had 26 points and 16 rebounds, while Luol Deng added 24 points for the Bulls.
In Indianapolis, Indiana, George Hill scored a season-high 26 points and Paul George had 11 of his 26 points during the decisive run to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 98-84 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Indiana have won four straight since losing in Chicago and are 13-1 for the first time in club history, remaining perfect in eight home games this season.
The Boston Celtics beat the Charlotte Bobcats 96-86 for their second straight victory after Jordan Crawford had 21 points and reserve Gerald Wallace added a season-high 17.
Brandon Bass scored 16 points and Phil Pressley had a career-high eight assists for Boston (6-10).
Kemba Walker had 28 points to lead the Bobcats (7-8).
LeBron James scored 35 points on only 14 shots from the field, while Dwyane Wade added 21 points and 12 assists to lead the Miami Heat over the Phoenix Suns 107-92 for their seventh straight win.
In Monday’s other games, the Denver Nuggets defeated the Dallas Mavericks 110-96 and the Detroit Pistons were 113-94 winners over the Milwaukee Bucks.
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
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but