Harden leads Rockets to a 3-0 lead over Mavs
James Harden scored a playoff career-high 42 points, Dwight Howard had his postseason best with 26 rebounds and the Houston Rockets beat the Mavericks, 130-128, on Friday night in Dallas for a three-games-to-none lead in their first-round series.
James Harden scored a playoff career-high 42 points, Dwight Howard had his postseason best with 26 rebounds and the Houston Rockets beat the Mavericks, 130-128, on Friday night in Dallas for a three-games-to-none lead in their first-round series.
The MVP candidate played a dominating role after deferring to Howard and role players in the first two wins, putting the Rockets on the verge of their first playoff series victory since Howard joined Harden.
The high-scoring game was Dallas' first without effectively banished point guard Rajon Rondo, and Monta Ellis had a playoff career-high 34 points to match Dirk Nowitzki.
But Ellis missed a potential tying jumper just before the buzzer, leaving Dallas to face a fourth straight year without winning a postseason series since taking the franchise's first championship.
Game 4 is Sunday at Dallas. No team has ever rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win an NBA postseason series.
Spurs 100, Clippers 73 - Kawhi Leonard had a postseason career-high 32 points and host San Antonio never trailed in dominating Los Angeles to take a two-games-to-one series lead in their first-round series.
The Clippers scored a franchise postseason low and their 11 points in the third were their fewest in any quarter this season.
Boris Diaw had 15 points and Danny Green added 11 for San Antonio, which led by as many as 37 points after two tense games in Los Angeles.
Wizards 106, Raptors 99 - John Wall drew choruses of "M-V-P!" from the crowd by producing 19 points and 15 assists, 37-year-old Paul Pierce hit two key late three-pointers, and the host Wizards closed in on a first-round playoff sweep by beating Toronto.
Curry was fouled
Stephen Curry's tying three-pointer could have been a four-point play.
The NBA says a foul should have been called on Curry's three-pointer with 3.5 seconds left in regulation Thursday night. Golden State went on to beat New Orleans, 123-119, in overtime for a 3-0 lead in its series.
Curry got the ball in the corner after Marreese Speights grabbed an offensive rebound and quickly fired it up as Pelicans defenders rushed at him, making contact.