Heat snap Rockets' five-game win streak after Paul injured
MIAMI (AP) — Josh Richardson scored 22 points, Tyler Johnson added 19 and the Miami Heat held off the Houston Rockets 101-99 on Thursday night for their first three-game winning streak of the season.
James Harden scored 35 for the Rockets, whose five-game winning streak was snapped when Eric Gordon's 3-point try at the buzzer hit the rim and bounced away. The worst part of the night for Houston, however, will likely be the loss of point guard Chris Paul in the second quarter to a strained left hamstring.
Gordon's 3-pointer with 37 seconds left got Houston within two, and the Rockets got a stop on a long ensuing Heat possession. Dwyane Wade missed, Hassan Whiteside got the offensive rebound and Wade wound up missing again, with the Rockets finally corralling the ball with 3.8 seconds left.
The last play went to Gordon, and his 3 — Houston's 54th attempt of the night from beyond the arc — was off, and Miami escaped.
Derrick Jones Jr. scored 15 for Miami, which got 11 from James Johnson and 10 from Wade. Gordon scored 20 for the Rockets, who got 14 from PJ Tucker and 10 from Danuel House Jr.
CLIPPERS 125, MAVERICKS 121
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Danilo Gallinari scored 32 points, Lou Williams added 26 and Los Angeles snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Dallas.
Rookie Luka Doncic scored a season-high 32 points for the Mavericks and JJ Barea added 19. DeAndre Jordan had 11 points and 22 rebounds in his first game back at Staples Center against his former team.
Dallas trailed 89-82 at the start of the fourth quarter before scoring eight straight points to take the lead, with six coming from Devin Harris. That would be the first of six lead changes and four ties over the final 10 minutes.
