HOUSTON (AP) – With James Harden getting double-teamed almost every time he had the ball Monday night against the Denver Nuggets, he looked for other Houston Rockets to step up and make plays.
Chief among them was Clint Capela, who set a career high with 31 points as the Rockets beat the Nuggets 125-113.
“He did what he was supposed to do,” said Harden, who had 32 points. “He finished. He played extremely well. Played hard.”
P.J. Tucker set a career high with seven 3-pointers and scored a season-high 21 points to help Houston win for the 12th time in 14 games. Capela had 19 points by halftime as Harden fed him again and again.
“Whenever I’m under the rim and you put a little on me what’s going to happen is that 99 or 100 percent of the time I’m going to dunk the ball,” Capela said. “This is what happened tonight and I did a great job of finishing aggressive under the rim.”
Houston was up by 11 after two free throws by Torrey Craig with about 5 1/2 minutes left before Tucker and Harden made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to make it 117-100 about a minute later.
PELICANS 114, GRIZZLIES 95
In New Orleans, Anthony Davis had 36 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots, and New Orleans pulled away from reeling Memphis down the stretch.
Second-year pro Frank Jackson scored a career-high 17 points for the Pelicans, who had won two straight for the first time since winning three in a row in mid-November.
Mike Conley had 22 points and 10 assists for the Grizzlies, not nearly enough to stem what is now a six-game slide.
LAKERS 107, MAVERICKS 97
In Dallas, Brandon Ingram scored 29 points and Lonzo Ball added 21 as Los Angeles handed Dallas a rare home loss.
The two young Lakers responded to coach Luke Walton’s demand for more passion after a blowout loss to Minnesota on Sunday. The duo helped rally Los Angeles from a double-digit halftime deficit.
The Lakers won for just the second time in seven games since LeBron James strained his groin on Christmas Day, and they swept the season series from the Mavericks 3-0.
Los Angeles surged ahead by outscoring the Mavericks 32-13 in the third quarter.
Luka Doncic scored 27 points to lead Dallas, which fell to 16-4 at home.
BUCKS 114, JAZZ 102
In Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points and Malcolm Brogdon scored 21 to lead Milwaukee past Utah.
Thon Maker added a season-high 15 points off the bench for the Bucks, who were coming off a loss to Toronto on Saturday night. Milwaukee improved to 28-11, the second-best record in the NBA.
Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points and Rudy Gobert had 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Jazz, who lost starting point guard Ricky Rubio to a right hamstring injury less than five minutes into the game. He didn’t return.
