HOUSTON — James Harden had 25 points and 13 assists Tuesday night as the Houston Rockets built a big lead early, then held off a late rally to get a 128-104 victory against the Orlando Magic.
The Rockets led by as many as 23 before the Magic begin chipping away at the lead. Serge Ibaka made a turnaround jump shot midway through the fourth quarter to cut Houston’s lead to nine points.
Harden grabbed a bad pass from Evan Fournier not long after that and dished to Eric Gordon, who finished with a 3-pointer. Trevor Ariza added a 3-pointer for Houston to extend the lead to 112-97 with about four minutes remaining to put the game away.
Patrick Beverley scored seven points after that to help extend the lead to 120-99 with less than two minutes left and send Houston’s starters to the bench.
HORNETS 111, NETS 107: Kemba Walker, Nicolas Batum and Marco Belinelli each had 17 points as Charlotte won at home to snap a seven-game losing streak.
NOTES
KINGS: Center DeMarcus Cousins was handed an automatic one-game suspension for his 16th technical of the season and will sit out Wednesday night’s game against Boston.
TIMBERWOLVES: Forward Adreian Payne is out indefinitely with a blood condition.
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