James Harden scored 45 points, including all nine for Houston in overtime, as the Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers 108-103 on Wednesday after firing coach Kevin McHale earlier in the day.
Corey Brewer made an off-balance three-pointer to force overtime and Harden took over from there, finishing with 11 assists, eight rebounds and five steals as the Rockets capped an emotional day at the Toyota Center.
It almost ended with a fifth straight loss before Brewer made his shot with 0.9 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 99.
Photo: AP
Just hours after McHale was fired, the Rockets played much of the game with sloppy mistakes and dreadful shooting. Interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff, son of longtime NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff, served in his first game as head coach.
The Blazers dropped their seventh straight, their worst losing streak since closing 2012-2013 on a 13-game skid. Damian Lillard led Portland with 23 points.
Houston snapped its longest skid since the 2012-2013 season. Dwight Howard hauled in 19 rebounds, and Trevor Ariza had 18 points.
SPURS 109, NUGGETS 98
In San Antonio, Texas, Tony Parker scored a season-high 25 points as the San Antonio never trailed in beating Denver for their sixth straight victory.
Kawhi Leonard added 20 points, Tim Duncan had 12 and LaMarcus Aldridge 11 for the Spurs, undefeated at home after five games. Patty Mills was three-for-six on three-pointers in scoring a season-high 17 points.
Denver rookie Nikola Jokic had 23 points off the bench, and Gary Harris added 15.
The Spurs were without Manu Ginobili, who will miss the next two games with bilateral hip tightness.
MAVERICKS 106, CELTICS 102
In Boston, Dirk Nowitzki scored 23 points and Wesley Matthews had 18 as Dallas erased an 18-point, first-half deficit to defeat Boston for their fifth consecutive win.
Zaza Pachulia had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Mavericks. Deron Williams added 16 points, including consecutive key baskets.
Isaiah Thomas led Boston with 19 points. Jared Sullinger had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Avery Bradley scored 18 as the Celtics had a three-game winning streak snapped.
Dallas trailed 89-82 with just under 8 minutes to play before going on a 14-2 run over the ensuing 5 minutes, 4 seconds.
The Celtics closed to 104-102 and had a chance to tie or take the lead, but Raymond Felton stole the ball from Thomas in the closing seconds.
PACERS 112, 76ERS 85
In Philadelphia, Paul George scored 34 points and C.J. Miles added 20 to lead Indiana to a rout of winless Philadelphia.
T.J. McConnell scored 16 points for Philadelphia, which dropped to 0-12 while setting a season high with 31 turnovers.
The 76ers are within five losses of matching last season’s franchise-worst start and six defeats from tying the NBA record, set by the 2009 Nets, for longest losing streak to begin a season. Philadelphia open a six-game road trip today in Charlotte.
It was the 76ers’ 22nd loss in a row dating to last season, four from equaling the NBA record they already share with Cleveland.
George, who has scored at least 26 points in eight straight games, finished 13-for-24 from the field and five-for-10 from three-point range.
In other NBA action, it was:
‧ Bulls 103, Suns 97
‧ Hawks 103, Kings 97
‧ Thunder 110, Pelicans 103
‧ Hornets 116, Nets 111
‧ Magic 104, Timberwolves 101
‧ Jazz 93, Raptors 89
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