Outside of James Harde’s 50 points, other teams struggled to score on Thursday night. His performance went down in Rockets’ history, while the Lakers made history in a negative way.
Let’s get to the games:
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Minnesota Timberwolves | 95 | (15-53) |
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New York Knicks | 92 | (14-54) |
| Final – OT | |||
Zach LaVine made a name for himself by recording high-flying dunks. But on Thursday, he came through in the clutch at the foul line. LaVine sunk a pair of free throws in an overtime period to lift Minnesota over New York and snap a six-game losing streak. LaVine finished with 20 points and was 5 for 5 from the line. Andrew Wiggins also added 20 points, while Kevin Martin led the Timberwolves with 22. Gorgui Dieng scored 19 points and grabbed 11 of the team’s 43 rebounds. Langston Galloway led the Knicks with 21 points.
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Denver Nuggets | 108 | (26-43) |
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Houston Rockets | 118 | (46-22) |
| Final | |||
A fast start helped the Rockets put up with a late Denver surge. Houston led 65-49 at halftime and withstood 35 points in the fourth quarter by the Nuggets. Denver, though, couldn’t handle 50 points from James Harden. After being limited to under 20 points in each of the last three games, Harden had his first 50-point output of his career. It was the ninth time in team history that a player scored that many points and first since Hakeem Olajuwon did it in 1996. Harden also had 10 of the team’s 49 rebounds. Trevor Ariza added 17 points for Houston, while Josh Smith came off the bench to add 12. All five starters reached double figures for Denver, with Randy Foye and Wilson Chandler each pouring in 23.
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New Orleans Pelicans | 72 | (37-31) |
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Phoenix Suns | 74 | (36-33) |
| Final | |||
Brandon Wright scored 16 points and blocked seven shots to lead the Suns past the Pelicans, who played without star forward Anthony Davis. Marcus Morris grabbed 13 of Phoenix’s 57 rebounds and Brandan Wright added 16 points. The Suns shot just 34-percent from the field, despite the win, and were just 2 of 22 from behind-the-arc. Eric Gordon scored 14 points to lead New Orleans. The Pelican had a last-second try to win the game, but Tyreke Evans’ shot fell short.
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Utah Jazz | 80 | (31-37) |
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Los Angeles Lakers | 73 | (17-50) |
| Final | |||
For the second-straight year the Lakers have lost at least 50 games. Gordon Hayward led all scorers with 22 points and Trey Burke added 17 for the Jazz. Tarik Black led the Lakers with 13 points and Wesley Johnson added 12. The Lakers scored 46 points in the paint, compared to just 22 by Utah, but the Jazz sunk nine 3-pointers compared to just three by Los Angeles.