Wall, Wizards beat Rockets 135-131 in OT despite Harden’s 54
WASHINGTON (AP) — John Wall scored a season-high 36 points, including six in overtime, and the Washington Wizards overcame James Harden's season-best 54 points to outlast the Houston Rockets 135-131 on Monday night.
Wall had two baskets in the extra period and finished with 11 assists. Bradley Beal equaled his season high with 32 points for the Wizards.
Otto Porter hit a runner with 4:37 to play for the first basket in overtime and the Wizards remained ahead from there. Wall followed with a jumper to make it 129-125 and later made another jumper that pushed the lead to five. Beal's jumper extended it to 133-126 with 1:50 to play.
Harden had 44 points through three quarters but missed five of his seven shots in the fourth. In overtime, Harden whose career high is 60, was 1 of 2 from the field and had two free throws. He had 11 turnovers, three in overtime.
Eric Gordon scored a season-high 36 for the short-handed Rockets, who played without Chris Paul for the second straight game.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Kevin Durant scored a season-high 49 points, giving Golden State the lead on a three-point play with 1:19 left before hitting a 3-pointer with 22 seconds remaining to send the Warriors past Orlando.
Durant topped his 44-point performance two nights earlier with another brilliant outing on both ends — and Klay Thompson was his scoring sidekick once more as the two-time defending NBA champions played without injured All-Stars Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
Thompson hit his sixth 3 of the night to tie it with 1:45 left and finished with 29 points.
Durant became the seventh player in Warriors history to post consecutive 40-point games — along with Rick Barry, Wilt Chamberlain, Curry, Antawn Jamison, Purvis Short and Thompson, according to Elias.
Nikola Vucevic had 30 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the Magic, who coming off a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on the road Sunday.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Kyrie Irving closed out a 26-point, 10-assist performance with a 3-pointer and a tough baseline fade over Anthony Davis, and Boston pulled away late for a victory over New Orleans.
Jayson Tatum, who scored 20, threw down a right-handed dunk while being fouled by Davis with 2:26 left, at which point Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry began subbing out starters and fans started filing out, resigned to just New Orleans' second loss in 10 home games this season.
Davis finished with 27 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks, Nikola Mirotic hit six 3s as part of his 25 points, and Julius Randle added 15 points from the bench, but that wasn't enough to end what is now a four-game losing streak for New Orleans.
Al Horford scored 20 points, and Marcus Morris had 19 points and 11 rebounds for Boston, which punished the Pelicans for their 22 turnovers, converting them into 32 points.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb each had 21 points, and Charlotte held on to beat Milwaukee after nearly squandering a 25-point, third-quarter lead.
Marvin Williams added 16 points and eight rebounds, and Tony Parker had 15 points off the bench for the Hornets, who bounced back from a loss at Atlanta on Sunday night and ended a two-game skid.
The Bucks nearly came all the way back, cutting the lead to one with 17 seconds left on a layup by Giannis Antetokounmpo.
But Walker made two free throws with 7.1 seconds left and the Bucks failed to get off a good shot after a side inbounds, with Eric Bledsoe forced to launch an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer that hit off the glass and the rim and bounced away as time expired.
Antetokounmpo had 20 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists. Bledsoe scored 17 points.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Doug McDermott scored a season-high 21 points and Indiana rolled to an easy victory without leading scorer Victor Oladipo, beating Utah.
Myles Turner set the tone with 16 points, all in the first three quarters, and seven Pacers reached double figures. Tyreke Evans scored 14 points and Cory Joseph and Domantas Sabonis each had 13.
The Pacers shot a season-best 58.3 percent and made half of their 18 3-point attempts.
Donovan Mitchell, who scores 20.6 per game, sat out his second game with bruised ribs and Utah was playing a back-to-back, but it was 19 turnovers and poor shooting that buried the Jazz and dropped their usually stellar home record to 2-6.
CHICAGO (AP) — LaMarcus Aldridge scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, and San Antonio held off Chicago.
DeMar DeRozan had 21 points and Patty Mills finished with 17 as San Antonio improved to 2-1 on a four-game trip. Bryn Forbes made three of the Spurs' 10 3-pointers on his way to 13 points.
Chicago had two chances to go in front in the final seconds and came up empty each time. Zach LaVine was short on a 3-point try from the top of the key, and Ryan Arcidiacono missed a jumper as time expired.
LaVine scored 11 of his 28 points in the fourth, but the Bulls lost for the seventh time in eight games. Arcidiacono finished with a career-high 22 points, Jabari Parker had 18 and Justin Holiday added 17.
TIMBERWOLVES 102, CAVALIERS 95
CLEVELAND (AP) — Robert Covington scored 24 points, Karl-Anthony Towns added 21 and Minnesota beat Cleveland.
Minnesota is 6-2 since trading disgruntled star Jimmy Butler to Philadelphia two weeks ago and 10-11 overall. The latest win was its second in 10 road games this season.
Derrick Rose came off the bench to score 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter. Towns hit two baskets in the final two minutes, including a fadeaway jumper on the baseline, after Cleveland cut the lead to 91-86.
Cleveland beat Philadelphia and Houston last week for its first back-to-back wins of the season, but couldn't make it three straight.
Kyle Korver scored 22 points, including six 3-pointers for Cleveland. Rodney Hood added 20 points while Tristan Thompson had 16 points and 11 rebounds.
