Associated Press
Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO — James Harden scored 31 points, Chandler Parsons had 25, and the Houston Rockets overcame a furious second-half rally to beat San Antonio 112-106 on Saturday night, handing the Spurs their first home defeat.
Dwight Howard had 13 points and 11 rebounds, Terrence Jones added 10 points and 16 boards, and Patrick Beverly had 11 points for Houston (13-5).
Tony Parker had 27 points, Tim Duncan added 20 and Marco Belinelli scored 18 for San Antonio (14-3), which has lost two of three.
San Antonio outscored Houston 39-26 to open the second half, with Belinelli scoring 13 points after halftime to set up a furious finish.
Harden’s off-balance 3-pointer tied the game at 106 with 45 seconds left. Parker missed a driving layup over Howard, and Beverly tipped in Harden’s miss to put Houston up 108-106 with 31 seconds remaining. Manu Ginobili missed a 3-pointer, enabling Houston to outlet to Parsons for a dunk and a 110-106 lead with 16 seconds left.
Houston responded to a late first-half spurt by San Antonio by opening the second half on a 13-2 run that Parsons and Harden opened and closed with 3-pointers.
The run appeared to fire up Duncan, who scored seven of the Spurs’ 13 points in one stretch, including an alley-oop-dunk in front of Howard. The Spurs were energized by their stoic leader showing some fire, closing within 81-80 with 2 minutes left in the third quarter.
Belinelli hit consecutive 3s to give San Antonio an 85-83 lead early in the final quarter, its first since going up 12-11 with 6:34 left in the first. He added another 3 to give the Spurs an 88-83 advantage.
Harden was shaken up after running into Danny Green’s chest while attempting to create space. Harden fell to the ground, allowing Green to score an uncontested dunk with no foul assessed. Harden remained on the floor for a few seconds before getting up, grimacing and then slamming his palm into the scorer’s table in anger on the non-call.
NOTES: Houston G Jeremy Lin and F Greg Smith both missed the game with sprained right knees. It was the second straight game Lin has missed. . A scene from the 2004 movie “The Alamo” was shown during the first quarter, making the Spurs the defenders of the Alamo and Texas, and the Rockets as the invading army.
DALLAS — Kevin Martin had 27 points with some key baskets late, Kevin Love had his usual double-double and the Timberwolves snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory at Dallas.
Martin made two free throws with just under 6 minutes left to put Minnesota up 94-90. Ricky Rubio then had a steal that led to a long fast-break jumper by Martin, who later beat the shot clock with a jumper and then added a 3-pointer. That stretched the lead to 103-92, matching its largest, with 3:12 left.
Love finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds. All five starters scored in double figures for Minnesota, which had lost five of its previous six games.
Monta Ellis scored 26 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 23 for Dallas.
WASHINGTON — John Wall had 26 points and 12 assists, Trevor Ariza scored 24 points and made five 3-pointers, and the Wizards beat the Hawks.
The Wizards have won six of their last eight, and have won eight games in November for the first time since 1984.
Martell Webster added 19 points for Washington and also had five 3-pointers. Nene, who returned after missing Friday’s game at Indiana with a right Achilles tendon injury, had 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Paul Millsap had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta, which cut an 18-point, third-quarter deficit to 81-79 with 9:42 left, but could not get closer.
CLEVELAND — Andrew Bynum and Dion Waiters each scored 20 points, and the Cavaliers held off a late rally by the Bulls.
Cleveland, which had lost five straight and eight of nine, built a 12-point lead in fourth quarter, but the Bulls rallied for an 88-87 edge on Tony Snell’s basket with 3:59 remaining.
Bynum’s jumper put Cleveland ahead again with 3:35 left, and Kyrie Irving scored after stealing the ball from Kirk Hinrich. Waiters converted another turnover into a layup to put the Cavaliers ahead 93-88 with 2:09 to play.
Luol Deng scored 27 points for the Bulls, who finished 1-5 on their road trip in which they lost point guard Derrick Rose for the season with a knee injury.
Irving added 19 points for Cleveland.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Joe Johnson scored 26 points, Brook Lopez added 12 of his 20 in the fourth quarter, and the Nets beat the Grizzlies.
Andray Blatche scored 21 off the Nets bench, making all three shots from beyond the arc. Blatche entered the game 1 for 7 from 3-point range this season.
The Nets snapped a two-game losing streak and handed Memphis its fourth straight home loss.
Quincy Pondexter, who had not played in the Grizzlies’ two previous games, scored a career-high 22 points. Mike Conley had 16 points and 10 assists, while Tony Allen had 13 points.
The Nets led by as many as 16 and withstood a fourth-quarter rally led by Pondexter that pulled Memphis within one.