UTAH JAZZ center Rudy Gobert (27) tangles up with Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) in the first half of an NBA basketball game on Sunday in Houston.
James Harden scored a career-high 56 points and added 13 assists in just 35 minutes to lead the Houston Rockets to a 137-110 victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday night.
Harden finished 19 of 25 from the field after missing his last three attempts. The MVP runner-up was 7 for 7 from beyond the arc until he missed a step-back 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter as the shot clock was about to expire.
Even when the Jazz could deny Harden his shot, he passed it off for someone else to score. Eric Gordon scored 20 points, Trevor Ariza had 14 and Nene scored 13 off the bench.
Harden received a standing ovation from the Toyota Center crowd, which rained down “MVP! MVP!” chants at multiple points during the game. He had 22 points in both the first and third quarters, 30 at halftime and sat for the final 7:32 of the blowout.
Donovan Mitchell led Utah with 17 points.
Hawks 117, Cavaliers 115
CLEVELAND (AP) — Dennis Schroeder scored 28 points and injury-riddled Atlanta beat Cleveland to end an eight-game losing streak.
Missing five players, Atlanta won for the first time since topping Dallas in the season opener.
Cleveland’s Kevin Love was taken to a hospital with an illness, Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said without disclosing the problem. Love left in the third quarter.
Coming off his 57-point performance Friday night at Washington, LeBron James had 26 points and 13 assists for Cleveland. The Cavaliers have lost five of seven.
Wizards 107, Raptors 96
TORONTO (AP) — Bradley Beal scored 38 points, Otto Porter Jr. had 19 and Washington overcame the absence of All-Star point guard John Wall to beat Toronto, winning for the second time in 11 meetings with the Raptors.
Marcin Gortat had 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Markieff Morris and Kelly Oubre Jr. each scored 10 points for the Wizards. Wall sat out because of a sprained left shoulder sustained Friday in a 130-122 loss to Cleveland. He is expected to return for Tuesday’s home game against Dallas.
Toronto lost its starting point guard when Kyle Lowry was ejected with 8:08 remaining in the second quarter after picking up two technical fouls in quick succession for arguing. Lowry finished with two points in 12 minutes. DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points and Norman Powell had 19 as Toronto lost for the first time in three home games this season.
Trail Blazers 103, Thunder 99
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Damian Lillard had 36 points and 13 assists, Jusuf Nurkic added 25 points and Portland held off Oklahoma City.
Lillard, scoring at least 30 points in his fourth consecutive game, scored on a driving layup with 29.5 seconds to give the Blazers a 98-94 lead that the Thunder were unable to overcome.
Nurkic hit 11 of 15 shots and grabbed eight rebounds. C.J. McCollum made six 3- pointers and scored 22 points for the Blazers, who hit 50 percent from the floor (37 of 74).
Paul George topped the Thunder with 27 points. Russell Westbrook had 25 points and nine assists.
Oklahoma City played much of the second half without Carmelo Anthony. He was ejected from the game with 4:26 left in the third quarter following a flagrant foul. Driving to the basket, Anthony elbowed the chin of Nurkic, who collapsed and lay on the floor for more than a minute.
Knicks 108, Pacers 101
NEW YORK (AP) — Kristaps Porzingis scored a career-high 40 points, carrying the New York Knicks back from a 19-point deficit to a 108-101 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night.
Porzingis added eight rebounds and six blocked shots in his seventh 30-point performance in nine games this season.
Lakers 107, Grizzlies 102
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brook Lopez scored 21 points, Brandon Ingram added 20 and Los Angeles blew most of a 22-point lead before hanging on for their third victory in four games.
Rookie Kyle Kuzma had 13 points and 12 rebounds in his second career start for the Lakers. They beat Memphis at Staples Center for the fourth straight time despite the Grizzlies’ furious late rally.
T-wolves 112, Hornets 94
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jeff Teague had 18 points and 12 assists and Minnesota beat Charlotte for its fifth straight victory.
Andrew Wiggins led Minnesota with 20 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns, Jimmy Butler, Gorgui Dieng and Jamal Crawford all reached double figures in scoring.
The Timberwolves moved to 7-3, just a half-game behind Houston for the top spot in the Western Conference. The last time Minnesota won five games in a row was Jan. 2-10, 2009.
Cody Zeller led Charlotte with 16 points.
Heat 104, Clippers 101
LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Johnson made two free throws with 8.7 seconds left and Miami recovered after blowing a 25-point lead, bouncing back to beat Los Angeles.
Spurs 112, Suns 95
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — LaMarcus Aldridge scored 21 points and San Antonio rolled past Phoenix.
The Suns were held to 13 points in the third quarter, the lowest production by a Spurs opponent in any quarter this season. San Antonio won the period by 21 points, its largest point differential in the third quarter since 2012.
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