Harden scores 46, Rockets hang on to beat Clippers 109-105

Kevin McHale’s seemed just the opposite. “It was just the way we played”.

The Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Clippers do battle tonight at the Staples Center.

The Rockets lost all three of those games.

“We needed to make things tougher for James”, Griffin said. Against the Suns, Harden was 13-of-23 from the field, including 3-of-7 on 3-pointers. Paul had 24 points and nine assists in the game against the Warriors for the Clippers and he was able to shoot at the workout leading into the game. J.J. Redick fouled Harden, who made two free throws for a 107-105 lead with 32.6 seconds left.

Clippers forward Blake Griffin then missed a contested layup and a tipin as Houston’s Dwight Howard touched the ball near the rim.

“That’s textbook goaltending”, Griffin said.

Otto Porter had 23 points to lead the Wizards, who made 26 turnovers.

A lack of depth was a real problem, and the general consensus was that head coach and team president Doc Rivers had his hands tied and this path blocked by salary cap issues. When you watch the film we just looked sickly. “We were able to turn the corner and get downhill”.

The Clipper bench unit, which had impressed during its turn in the first half, blew a Clipper lead after returning in the second half.

Golden State (7-0) is off to its best start since moving to the West Coast; the Philadelphia Warriors started 9-0 in the 1960-61 season. “But we kept our composure and came away with the win”.

Klay Thompson scored 18 points and Andre Iguodala had 14 for Golden State, which has won 74 of its last 89 games dating to last season.

CHICAGO – Andrew Wiggins scored 31 points, and Minnesota outlasted Chicago for an overtime win.

In Atlanta, Kent Bazemore scored a career-high 25 points, and the Hawks earned their seventh consecutive victory.

Gay finished with 15 points and five rebounds.

One of the problems a season ago with the Clippers’ reserves was a tendency to stand around and watching Crawford dominate the ball and try to make plays and take shots all on his own. Former King Marcus Thornton scored 16 points in his return to Sacramento. The injury-hampered Pelicans (0-6) dressed nine players. Fellow rookie Nemanja Bjelica also scored 17.

In Milwaukee, Greg Monroe had 20 points and eight rebounds, powering the Bucks to the win.

A trouble area a season ago, L.A.’s bench turning into strong point. Pau Gasol had 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Bulls. Griffin, clad like an outlaw in black, dueled the equally transcendent James Harden through a first half that featured very little defense and many, many baskets. Marco Bellinelli and Rudy Gay each scored 22 points for the Kings, losers of five straight.

Evan Fournier had 17 points for Orlando, and Victor Oladipo finished with 15 on 6-for-18 shooting.