NBA Roundup: Harden hot as Houston cooks up home win

James Harden scored a game-high 40 points and Houston won on its home floor
for the first time this season.

The Rockets, last in the league in field goal percentage, shot 36 for 74 (48.6
percent) and converted a season-high 20 3-pointers.

Victor Oladipo led Indiana with 22 points and Bojan Bogdanovic chipped in 20.
Bogdanovic assisted on a Cory Joseph basket with 1:18 remaining that enabled
the Pacers to claw to within eight points, but Chris Paul responded with a
driving layup with only 62 seconds left to play.

The Pacers had their five-game road winning streak snapped and lost to Houston
for the second time in six days.

Trail Blazers 100, Celtics 94

Damian Lillard scored 19 points and dished out 12 assists and Al-Farouq Aminu
sank a pair of 3-pointers down the stretch as Portland beat Boston.

Jusuf Nurkic scored 18 points and grabbed 17 rebounds for the Trail Blazers,
who have won four in a row and seven of eight. Jayson Tatum scored a
season-high 27 points and Kyrie Irving 21 for the Celtics, who have lost four
of five.

Lakers 107, Hawks 106

LeBron James scored 26 points, including a put-back layup with 15 seconds
remaining, and Kyle Kuzma added 18 as L.A. held off a late rally by Atlanta.

In just his third game with the Lakers, center Tyson Chandler blocked a shot
by rookie Trae Young at the buzzer to seal the victory. The Lakers improved to
7-6 to move over .500 for the first time this season.

James had a chance to give the Lakers the lead from the free-throw line with
15 seconds remaining but missed both shots. Kuzma got the rebound, but missed
a put-back shot. James rebounded that miss and scored inside for the late
lead.

Taurean Prince scored 23 points and Kent Bazemore added 21 for the Hawks, who
lost for the fourth time in their last five games and the seventh time in
their last nine. Young had 20 points, 12 assists for Atlanta.

Magic 115, Knicks 89

Orlando scored the first 10 points and never trailed on the way to a 115-89
rout of the host Knicks.

Orlando has won two straight and four of five while the Knicks lost by at
least 20 points for the third time this season.

Terrence Ross scored a game-high 22 points for the Magic while Nikola Vucevic
had 21 points and 14 rebounds in just 26 minutes. New York native Mo Bamba had
15 points and eight rebounds in his homecoming while Evan Fournier added 12
points.

Kevin Knox led the Knicks with 17 points while Enes Kanter recorded a
double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds.

Hornets 113, Pistons 103

Kemba Walker and Tony Parker each scored 24 points, leading Charlotte Hornets
to a 113-103 win in Detroit.

Cody Zeller contributed 14 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots, while
Jeremy Lamb chipped in 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals
for the Hornets.

Charlotte forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist left the game in the second quarter
with an ankle sprain.

Andre Drummond recorded his fifth 20-20 game of the season with 23 points and
22 rebounds for Detroit. Reggie Bullock supplied a career-high 23 points and
Reggie Jackson tossed in 19 points with seven assists.

Pistons forward Blake Griffin was ejected for a flagrant foul with 7:06
remaining. The officials ruled that Griffin made excessive contact against
Malik Monk as the Hornets guard drove to the basket.

Bucks 121, Nuggets 114

Brook Lopez scored a season-high 28 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo had 22
points, nine rebounds and eight assists as Milwaukee handed Denver its third
consecutive loss.

Khris Middleton had 21 points Malcolm Brogdon scored 20 for the Bucks.

Lopez hit a career-high eight 3-pointers, six in the third quarter when
Milwaukee built a double-digit lead.

Paul Millsap scored 25 points to lead the Nuggets, who received 20 points from
center Nikola Jokic. Millsap added eight boards and six assists.

--Field Level Media