LOS ANGELES (AP) Houston’s James Harden passed the 40 points milestone for the second straight game, accumulating 46 to lead the Rockets to a 109-105 win at the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday.
Harden not only had a team victory but outperformed MVP rival Stephen Curry, who had a mere 24 points but still led Golden State to victory at Sacramento.
Elsewhere, Atlanta extended its winning streak to seven games by defeating Washington, and a hot-shooting Trey Burke led Utah past Memphis.
Harden made 13 of 14 free throws and was 5 of 10 from 3-point range, helping the Rockets extend their winning streak to four.
Blake Griffin had 35 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers, who played without Chris Paul. The star point guard sat out with a sore right groin as Los Angeles lost at home for the first time in four games.
Golden State’s Curry scored 21 of his 24 points in the second half, leading the undefeated Warriors to a 103-94 win at Sacramento.
Klay Thompson scored 18 points for Golden State, which is two wins away from matching the best-ever start to a season by the franchise. The Warriors won their first nine when based in Philadelphia in 1960-61.
Marco Bellinelli and Rudy Gay each scored 22 points for the Kings, losers of five straight.
Atlanta’s Kent Bazemore scored a career-high 25 points to lead the Hawks past Washington 114-99.
Paul Millsap had 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Atlanta, which scored 39 points in the final quarter.
Otto Porter paced the Wizards with a career-high 23 points.
Utah’s Burke scored 24 points, including a career-high six 3-pointers, to lead the Jazz past Memphis 89-79.
Gordon Hayward had his best game of the season, finishing with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists while shooting 6 for 10 from the field for the Jazz.
Memphis had its worst shooting night of the season against the No. 1 defense in the NBA, going 30 for 91 from the field. Mike Conley had 20 points and five assists.
San Antonio pulled away from Charlotte to win 114-94, with Kawhi Leonard scoring 23 points.
LaMarcus Aldridge had 16 for the Spurs, who made eight 3-pointers in the second half of their highest scoring game of the season.
After going 1 for 7 on 3-pointers in the first half, San Antonio used its long-range shooting to go on a 20-2 run in the third quarter.
Kemba Walker scored 27 points for the Hornets.
Dallas’ Deron Williams had 16 of his 19 points in the second half to steer the Mavericks past New Orleands 107-98.
Minnesota’s Andrew Wiggins scored 31 points, leading the Timberwolves to a 102-93 overtime win at Chicago.
Milwaukee’s Greg Monroe had 20 points and eight rebounds, powering the Bucks to a 94-86 win against Brooklyn.
Orlando had seven players score in double figures in a 105-97 win for the Magic against Philadelphia.
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