By Anne M. Peterson | The Associated Press
PORTLAND, Oregon—Jusuf Nurkic had 25 points and 15 rebounds, and the Portland Trail Blazers snapped James Harden’s 40-point streak and the Houston Rockets’ six-game winning streak with a 110-101 victory on Saturday night.
Harden finished with 38 points, falling just short of his sixth straight game with 40 or more. He was 13 of 35 from the field, shooting 5 of 17 from three-point range.
CJ McCollum added 24 points and Damian Lillard finis hed with 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Blazers, who have won three of their last four games.
Austin Rivers scored a season-high 21 points for Houston, while Clint Capela had 13 points and 21 rebounds.
Portland led by as many as 16 points in the third quarter, but Harden started to show some life after a surprisingly cold first half.
Gerald Green’s dunk got Houston within 88-83 early in the fourth but Nurkic’s lay-up pushed Portland’s lead to 97-85 with just under six minutes left.
After Harden collected his fourth foul, McCollum hit a long jumper to put Portland up 101-90 with 3:10 left. Evan Turner’s lay-up and free throw made it 106-95 and Moda Center fans started heading for the doors.
There was some controversy when Harden got three free throws on Turner’s foul and he made all three to close the gap with 1:02 left. After Lillard made a free throw on the other end, Harden’s step-back jumper got the Rockets within 107-101 with 34 seconds left—but it was a close as they could get.
Portland was the last team to hold Harden under 30. He had 29 in Houston’s 111-104 home victory on December 11. Maurice Harkless had some success guarding Harden, but he out with a sore left knee after Saturday night’s loss to the Thunder and Turner started for the Blazers.
Portland surrendered the lead to Oklahoma City heading into the fourth quarter and came up short 111-109 despite a late rally.
Harden had a triple-double in a 135-134 overtime victory over Golden State on Thursday night. He had 44 points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists for his second straight 40-point triple-double and 11th of his career.
Rivers hit all four of his three-point attempts to start the game and finished the first quarter with 14 points.
Neither team was able to make much of a move until the final two minutes of the half, when Portland went up 54-46 on Turner’s lay-up. Nene was charged with a flagrant foul on Nurkic, who made one of the two free throws then added a basket. Lillard had a floater before time ran out and the Blazers went to the break with a 59-46 lead.
Harden was 0 for 8 from three-point range in the opening half and had nine points. It was just the second time this season he failed to reach double digits in the first half.
Lillard’s three-pointer pushed Portland’s lead to 77-61, but Harden answered with his own. Harden had 20 points in the third quarter but the Blazers led 86-77 going into the final period.
CURRY, WARRIORS BEAT KINGS
STEPHEN CURRY scored 20 of his 42 points in the fourth quarter and had 10 three-pointers, and the Golden State Warriors held on to beat the Sacramento Kings, 127-123, also on Saturday night.
Kevin Durant added 29 points, nine assists and five rebounds, and Klay Thompson scored 20 points to help the Warriors complete a three-game sweep of the season series. The three games were decided by a total of 10 points.
Coming off a 135-134 overtime loss to Houston on Thursday night when they let a 20-point lead slip away, the Warriors blew another big lead in the third quarter before storming past the Kings over the final 12 minutes.
Curry led the way with five of his threes in the fourth, and had a pair of key three-point plays. Curry also closed out the quarter with a pair of free throws with 9.4 seconds left.
Buddy Hield scored 32 points on a career-high eight threes for Sacramento. The teams combined for an NBA-record 41 three-pointers, and the Kings set a franchise record with 20.
Justin Jackson added a career-high 28 points, and Willie Cauley-Stein had 14 points and 13 rebounds.
The teams exchanged 15-0 runs in the first half.
Golden State made four consecutive three-pointers, including a four-point play by Quinn Cook, and Durant soared through the key for an emphatic two-handed dunk that put the Warriors up 37-22 in the first quarter. The Kings made their surge in the second behind threes.
Sacramento trailed by 16, but pulled to 70-69 in the first half.