James Harden scored 21 points and fellow trade-deadline acquisition Keon Ellis added 19, lifting the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 115-101 victory over the visiting Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night.
Harden, who is in his 17th season, reached the 29,000-point milestone for his career in the first quarter and finished the game with 29,017 points, good for ninth place on the all-time scoring list. Hall of Fame center Wilt Chamberlain is eighth with 31,419 points.
The Cavaliers won for the eighth time in nine home games. They are 23-9 since Dec. 29 and have moved into fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Donovan Mitchell chipped in 17 points and six assists for Cleveland, which led by 25 and won all four games over the short-handed 76ers this season.
Quentin Grimes scored 17 points and Justin Edwards had 14 points off the bench for the 76ers. Cameron Payne, starting in place of All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey (right finger sprain), had 12 points and six rebounds.
Nets 126, Grizzlies 115
Day’Ron Sharpe tied a season high by scoring 19 points and Brooklyn pulled away for a victory over Memphis in New York.
Sharpe highlighted an 8-of-11 showing with a powerful one-handed dunk over Rayan Rupert to give the Nets a 98-88 lead with 10:33 remaining. Ochai Agbaji added a season-high 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting. He scored nine straight Brooklyn points, capped by a step-back 3-pointer for a 110-95 lead with eight minutes left. Rookie Nolan Traore hit four of Brooklyn’s 17 3-pointers and contributed 17 points.
Memphis had eight available players as it sat Ty Jerome (calf), Scotty Pippen Jr. (toe) and rookie Cedric Coward (knee) on the front end of a back-to-back. Rupert led the Grizzlies with a career-high 20 points and Javon Small contributed 19. GG Jackson chipped in 18, Jaylen Wells finished with 17 and rookie Walton Clayton Jr. had 13.
Thunder 129, Nuggets 126
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points, including a step-back 3-pointer in the closing seconds, to help Oklahoma City to a home win over Denver.
Gilgeous-Alexander tied Wilt Chamberlain’s NBA record with his 126th consecutive 20-point game. Gilgeous-Alexander added 15 assists and nine rebounds. Jaylin Williams scored 29 points on a career-high seven 3-pointers and contributed 12 rebounds to help Oklahoma City win without big men Chet Holmgren (flu) and Isaiah Hartenstein (calf).
Nikola Jokic had 32 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists, scoring 11 in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t quite enough to keep the Thunder from improving to 3-0 vs. the Nuggets this season. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 28 off the bench while Aaron Gordon had 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Clippers 126, Knicks 118
Kawhi Leonard recorded 29 points, eight assists and seven rebounds and Los Angeles reached .500 for the first time in more than four months with a victory over visiting New York.
Bennedict Mathurin added 28 points and seven rebounds off the bench as Los Angeles evened its record at 32-32. Darius Garland sank five 3-pointers and had 23 points and seven assists as the Clippers won for the fifth time in six games. Brook Lopez and Derrick Jones Jr. added 16 points apiece for Los Angeles.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 35 points on 13-of-17 shooting and also had 12 rebounds and seven assists before fouling out for New York. Jalen Brunson registered 28 points and eight assists, OG Anunoby scored 22 points and Josh Hart had 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks, who dropped to 1-2 on a five-game road trip.
Jazz 119, Warriors 116
Blake Hinson knocked down a go-ahead 3-pointer with 29.2 seconds left, lifting Utah to a victory over Golden State in Salt Lake City.
Hinson made four 3-pointers and finished with 12 points to help Utah win for the second time in three games. Kyle Filipowski tallied 19 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Jazz. Brice Sensabaugh had a team-high 21 points.
De’Anthony Melton scored 22 points and collected seven rebounds to lead Golden State. Draymond Green finished with a game-high 11 assists. Gui Santos added 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Warriors, who lost for the fourth time in five games. Brandin Podziemski had 14 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
