HOUSTON (AP) ― Playing without leading scorer James Harden, the Houston Rockets cracked one of the league’s best defenses by spreading the ball around.
Jeremy Lin, Chandler Parsons and Francisco Garcia scored 15 points apiece and Omer Asik added 13 points to lead the Rockets to a 98-81 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night.
Harden missed his third game of the season with a right ankle sprain, but the Rockets had all the right answers in his absence.
Harden, who played 26 minutes and scored a four-month low seven points in a 103-94 road loss to Memphis on Friday night, ranks fifth in the league at 26.0 points per game.
“We had a lot of guys play well,” Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. “The ball was really moving tonight, and it was good to see that. Everybody was in tune.”
Garcia had his best game since being traded to Houston from Sacramento in February, hitting 3 of 7 shots from beyond the arc as a spark off the bench to help Houston snap a two-game losing streak.
“When your best player is out, everybody has got to step up,” Garcia said. “That’s what we did tonight. We stayed together and got the win.”
Lin and Parsons combined for 13 points in the third quarter, when the Rockets outscored Los Angeles 30-13. The rally gave Houston a 22-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, and Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro had seen enough.
Bryant passes Chamberlain
SACRAMENTO, California (AP) ― Kobe Bryant scored 19 points and tied a season high with 14 assists despite a nagging left foot injury, and the Los Angeles Lakers kept pace for the Western Conference’s final playoff spot by outlasting the Sacramento Kings 103-98 on Saturday night.
Bryant added nine rebounds and facilitated the Lakers’ offense for 47 minutes, 37 seconds after Steve Nash exited early in the first quarter with a recurring right hamstring injury. Bryant also passed Lakers great Wilt Chamberlain (31,419 points) for fourth on the NBA’s career scoring list, after starting four points shy of the mark.
Dwight Howard added 24 points and 15 rebounds, and Steve Blake scored 15 points for the Lakers (38-36), who stayed even with Utah (38-36) for the eighth and final playoff spot. Los Angeles hosts 10th-place Dallas (36-37) in a critical tilt Tuesday night.
Tyreke Evans had 21 points and nine rebounds, and DeMarcus Cousins added 19 points and 11 rebounds in Sacramento’s latest loss. The Lakers won the season series 3-1.
With Bryant engineering the offense, Los Angeles showed some of its best ball movement of the season.
Nowitzki lifts Mavericks
DALLAS (AP) ― Dirk Nowitzki said the ball felt flat coming out of his hand.
It turned out to be the perfect trajectory for the Dallas Mavericks.
Nowitzki hit a 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds left, and the Mavericks rallied to beat the Chicago Bulls 100-98 on Saturday.
“This game was kind of like the story of our season,” said Nowitzki, who finished with a season-high 35 points. “Every time someone writes us off, we find a way to come back.”
The Mavericks trailed by 12 in the fourth quarter, but Nowitzki scored Dallas’ last eight points in a 15-1 run over the final 3 1/2 minutes of the game.
After Jimmy Butler missed two free throws with 15.9 seconds remaining, Vince Carter drove down the lane and kicked a pass out to Nowitzki, who stepped into a 3-pointer with Luol Deng running at him.
Nowitzki raised both hands in the air and yelled as he headed toward the Dallas bench. Chicago’s Nate Robinson then missed a jumper at the buzzer that would have tied it.
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