Christian Wood had 27 points and 15 rebounds and the Houston Rockets rallied to beat the San Antonio Spurs 109-105 on Thursday night in their first NBA game since trading franchise cornerstone James Harden.
Sterling Brown, who took Harden’s spot in the starting lineup, had 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 36 minutes.
Spurs forward Keldon Johnson had a career-high 29 points, and Lonnie Walker IV added 16 points,
Houston was playing its first game since sending Harden to the Brooklyn Nets in a four-team blockbuster trade Wednesday. Victor Oladipo, Dante Exum and Rodions Kurucs, who the Rockets acquired along with numerous draft picks and draft swaps for Harden, are not with the team yet. The Rockets were also without John Wall and Eric Gordon due to injuries. The upheaval led to more minutes for the remaining roster, and they took advantage of it.
The teams will meet again Saturday in San Antonio.
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NUGGETS 114, WARRIORS 104
Nikola Jokic scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half to help Denver overcome Golden State star Stephen Curry's blazing shooting.
Jokic also had 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his 46th career triple-double. The big man entered the game averaging a triple-double and leading the NBA in assists.
Will Barton and Jamal Murray each added 17 points.
Curry finished with 35 points on 14-of-23 shooting. He hit five 3-pointers to give him 2,545 for his career. Curry is 15 from tying Reggie Miller for second place on the league’s career list. Miller eagerly counted down Curry’s made 3s throughout the TNT broadcast. Ray Allen is first with 2,973.
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PACERS 111, TRAIL BLAZERS 87
Domantas Sabonis had 23 points and 15 rebounds to lead Indiana past Portland.
Malcolm Brogdon added 25 points and seven assists for the Pacers. They improved to 4-1 on the road this season and snapped an 11-game losing streak in Portland. Indiana led by 25 in the second quarter and maintained a double-digit advantage the rest of the way.
CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard each scored 22 points for Portland. Center Jusuf Nurkic fractured his right wrist in the third quarter.
76ERS 125, HEAT 108
Shake Milton scored 31 points, and Ben Simmons had 10 points, 10 assists and 12 rebounds to help Philadelphia beat Miami.
The Sixers swept the two-game home set against a Heat team that continues to play with a depleted roster because of COVID-related issues. Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic sat out, and the Heat were roughed up early by Milton, Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris.
Duncan Robinson led the Heat with 22 points. Gabe Vincent had 21.
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RAPTORS 111, HORNETS 108
Chris Boucher had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Kyle Lowry had 16 points and 12 assists, and Toronto beat Charlotte.
Pascal Siakam added 15 points and seven rebounds to help Toronto improved to 3-8.
Terry Rozier led the Hornets with 22 points, and P.J. Washington had 20 points and 11 rebounds.
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