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Harden’s 57 points fuel Rockets, Parker feted in San Antonio
LOS ANGELES, Jan 15, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – NBA scoring juggernaut James Harden
poured in a season-high 57 points on Monday to power the short-handed Houston
Rockets to a 112-94 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Harden’s latest monster game highlighted a night of NBA action that saw
Hornets point guard Tony Parker receive a hero’s welcome in San Antonio —
the city where he starred for 17 seasons.
Parker had a modest eight points, four assists and three rebounds in 19
minutes on the court — all with Spurs fans cheering him on.
“Man, a lot of love,” said Parker, who won four NBA titles with San
Antonio. “I’ve been with those fans for a long time and I really appreciate
(this).
“It’s hard to describe the feeling I have right now.”
Harden departed the court in Houston to a rousing ovation as well, and it
owed nothing to nostalgia.
With the Rockets reeling from the news that center Clint Capela will
likely miss at least four weeks with a thumb injury — joining an injury list
that already included Chris Paul and Eric Gordon — Harden happily shouldered
the burden.
“No pressure,” Harden said. “I do this for a living. I have fun with it.”
He extended his streak of consecutive 30-point games to a remarkable 17 —
and he did it by halftime with 36 points before the break.
It’s the longest such streak since Wilt Chamberlain had 20 straight games
of 30 or more points in 1964, surpassing Lakers great Kobe Bryant’s 16-game
30-point streak in the 2002-03 season.
It was the 11th 50-point game for an NBA player this season — three of
those belonging to Harden.
His latest huge game came a day after he scored 38 points in a loss to the
Orlando Magic, despite connecting on a dismal one of 17 three-point attempts.
“I knew he was dog-tired,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “I knew he
was trying to orchestrate it early and try to save his legs a little bit.”
But D’Antoni admitted he could only marvel at Harden’s determination.
“The guys guarding him are really good defenders,” said D’Antoni, who
notched his 600th career win as a coach.
“What he just did, we kind of take it for granted … he played 43 minutes
last night. It’s beyond impressive. It’s rare that people can do what he’s
doing.”
The third quarter opened with the Grizzlies throwing double- and triple-
teams at Harden, whose scoring pace slowed.
His teammates stepped it up, however, and the Rockets took an 87-70 lead
into the final quarter.
Harden got a breather early in the fourth, but re-entered the contest when
Memphis closed within 13 points with 7:11 left to play.
With 4:43 remaining Harden was fouled as he drained a three-pointer,
making the free throw to complete the four-point play as Houston pulled away.
– Russell lifts Nets –
In New York, D’Angelo Russell scored 18 of his 34 points in the third
quarter as the Brooklyn Nets used a second-half surge to beat the Boston
Celtics 109-102.
The Nets out-scored the Celtics 44-21 in the third period and pushed their
lead to as many as 27 points in the fourth.
Boston whittled the gap to seven points on Jaylen Brown’s driving layup
with 1:28 remaining, but the Nets held on to end a 10-game skid against the
Celtics.
Russell connected on 13 of 26 shots from the field, including seven of 13
from three-point range.
Center Jarrett Allen scored 19 points with 12 rebounds and forward Rodions
Kurucs added another 19 points for the Nets, who improved to 22-23 — good
enough for seventh in the Eastern Conference.
BSS/AFP/MR/1120 hrs