Harden scores 34 as Rockets spoil Griffin’s return

New York Knicks guard Langston Galloway protects the ball from Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe during the first half at US Airways Center on Sunday.

AFP/New York

James Harden scored 34 points and the Houston Rockets spoiled Blake Griffin’s NBA return from a right elbow injury by beating the Los Angeles Clippers 100-98 on Sunday. Harden, the league’s second-best scorer behind former Oklahoma City teammate Russell Westbrook, also contributed seven rebounds and seven assists as the Rockets solidified their grip on fourth place in the Western Conference. Houston improved to 44-22 while the Clippers slid into a share of fifth with the Dallas Mavericks at 42-25. Griffin scored 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting, grabbed 11 rebounds, passed out eight assists, made two steals and blocked a shot in 41 minutes on the court after missing the Clippers’ previous 15 games since February 6 with an infection in his right elbow. The Clippers went 9-6 since Griffin, averaging a team-best 22.5 points a game, underwent surgery last month. Houston beat the Clippers last month to snap a six-game losing streak in the rivalry and snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Clippers in Los Angeles on Sunday. Deadlocked at 96-96, the game turned on Terrence Jones’s 3-pointer that gave the Rockets a 99-96 lead. Matt Barnes answered with a layup for the Clippers but the hosts could not equalise. Harden went 1-of-2 at the free throw line to produce the final margin and set up the Clippers’ last gasp effort, but Chris Paul was tightly covered defensively by Houston’s Trevor Ariza and missed a baseline jumper at the buzzer that would have forced overtime. “We made some big plays at the end and got the win,” Harden said. “Trevor Ariza has been doing it for us all year—one-on-one defense against Chris Paul is difficult but he did a great job.” Ariza added 19 points and nine rebounds for the Rockets while Jones scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Paul led the Clippers with 23 points while Matt Barnes added 19 points, J.J. Redick contributed 15 points and DeAndre Jordan pulled down 20 rebounds. Meanwhile, guard Russell Westbrook scored 36 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 109-100 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Bulls (40-28) have dropped five of their last six games and are tied in the loss column with the Washington Wizards for fourth in the Eastern Conference Standings. The Thunder (37-29) are now a game ahead of the New Orleans Pelicans for eighth place in the Western Conference. Thunder center Enes Kanter posted 18 points and 18 rebounds for his sixth double-double since being traded to Oklahoma City. Center Steven Adams added 14 points and 11 boards. Forward Nikola Mirotic paced the Bulls with 27 points off the bench. Center Pau Gasol scored 20 points on 9-of-17 shooting. Forward Joakim Noah scored 15 points, but was limited to three rebounds. The Thunder held a 94-90 advantage with 4:06 on the clock. Mirotic connected on a pair of free throws to get the Bulls within two. After a Kanter miss, Bulls guard E’Twaun Moore was fouled by Adams on a layup attempt. Adams fouled out and Moore closed gap to one. With 1:27 left in the contest, Westbrook made one of two free throws. He then came up with a steal sprinted the court for the layup over Bulls guard Aaron Brooks to give Oklahoma City a 99-95 lead. Westbrook found guard Anthony Morrow for an open 3-pointer, which he drained with 40.6 seconds left. Gasol answered with a jumper, but Westbrook took the points right back when he raced coast-to-coast for a layup that sealed the win. Shooting woes plagued both teams at the start of the game. The Bulls shot a woeful 29.2 in the opening quarter while the Thunder were even worse at 20%. However, the Thunder out rebounded Chicago 22-14 in the first quarter, and Kanter set a franchise record for rebounds in a quarter by pulling down 10. After trailing Oklahoma City by eight, the Bulls stormed back to tie the game at 47-47 heading into halftime.