NBA Wrap: Nuggets stun Warriors, Clippers win 10th straight, James Harden reaches milestone

THE Nuggets gave the Warriors their third loss of the season, the Clippers won their 10th straight, and James Harden reached a scoring milestone.

Golden State Warriors v Denver Nuggets

THE Nuggets gave the Warriors their third loss of the season, the Clippers won their 10th straight, and James Harden reached a scoring milestone.

It’s all in the NBA Wrap.

AUSSIES IN ACTION

Andrew Bogut finished with an impressive 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocks as the Golden State Warriors suffered a 112-110 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Joe Ingles had a quiet two rebounds and three assists as the Utah Jazz fell to the Portland Trail Blazers 99-85.

CHARLOTTE HORNETS 107 — ATLANTA HAWKS 84

Kemba Walker scored 23 points and Charlotte pulled away from Atlanta to stop a seven-game losing streak.

Cody Zeller added 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Jeremy Lin had 19 points for the Hornets.

Paul Millsap scored 20 points for the Hawks.

WASHINGTON WIZARDS 106 — MILWAUKEE BUCKS 101

John Wall scored 19 points and backcourt mate Bradley Beal had 11 in his return from injury to help Washington beat Milwaukee.

Beal came off the bench and played 22 minutes in his first game since Dec. 9. He had been sidelined with a stress reaction in his lower right leg.

Ramon Sessions added 15 points and Jared Dudley had 13 for the Wizards, including two late 3-pointers to help preserve a third straight win.

Khris Middleton scored 25 points to lead Milwaukee, which allowed 36 points off a season-high 27 turnovers in its fourth loss in the last six games. Greg Monroe added 21 points and 12 rebounds.

BROOKLYN NETS 110 — NEW YORK KNICKS 104

Brook Lopez scored 20 points, Thaddeus Young had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Brooklyn ended its 10-game home losing streak with a victory over New York.

The Nets also snapped a five-game overall skid with their first victory under interim coach Tony Brown, who took over when coach Lionel Hollins was fired and general manager Billy King was reassigned on Sunday.

Joe Johnson made two key jumpers in the final 2 minutes and finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Nets in their first home victory since beating Philadelphia on Dec. 10.

Derrick Williams tied his career high with 31 points for the Knicks, who played without leading scorer Carmelo Anthony (sprained ankle) and had their two-game win streak snapped. Kristaps Porzingis shot 5 for 17 on his way to 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Knicks had a two-point lead with 5 minutes to play before the Nets took control with a 10-2 run.

BOSTON CELTICS 103 — INDIANA PACERS 94

Isaiah Thomas scored 28 points, Jae Crowder matched his career high with 25 and Boston snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over Indiana.

Amir Johnson had a season-high 18 rebounds and scored 14 points for the Celtics, who beat the Pacers for the first time this season after losing the first two meetings.

Paul George led Indiana 23 points. George Hill had 13 for the Pacers, who wore their old-fashioned Hickory High School uniforms from the movie ‘’Hoosiers.’’

Boston closed with a 12-0 run over the final 1:46.

HOUSTON ROCKETS 107 — MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES 104

James Harden had 27 points and 11 assists as Houston won its season-high fifth in a row. Minnesota lost its season-worst eighth straight.

Dwight Howard added 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Terrence Jones came off the bench to score 16 with nine rebounds for the Rockets.

Andrew Wiggins had 28 for the Timberwolves.

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER 108 — DALLAS MAVERICKS 89

Kevin Durant had 29 points and 10 rebounds, and Oklahoma City romped when Dallas sat out its usual starters.

Thunder star Russell Westbrook was ejected in the second quarter after getting his second technical foul following skirmishes with J.J. Barea. Westbrook went scoreless.

The Mavericks played the second night of a back-to-back after an overtime loss to Cleveland and coach Rick Carlisle chose not to use his five regular starters - Dirk Nowitzki, Wesley Matthews, Chandler Parsons, Deron Williams and Zaza Pachulia.

DENVER NUGGETS 112 — GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS 110

Danilo Gallinari scored 28 points and the Denver Nuggets withstood a 38-point performance by Stephen Curry to hand the Golden State Warriors their third loss of the season, 112-110 on Wednesday night.

The defending NBA champion Warriors (36-3) had won seven straight since their previous defeat, 114-91 at Dallas on Dec. 30.

Harrison Barnes added 18 points and Klay Thompson had 17 for the Warriors.

Will Barton scored 21 for the Nuggets, who snapped a four-game losing streak to the Warriors. Gary Harris added 18 points.

Denver outscored Golden State 19-5 over the last 5 1/2 minutes of the third quarter to take a 10-point lead into the fourth.

Curry scored 20 points in the final period.

PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS 99 — UTAH JAZZ 85

Damian Lillard had 21 points and 10 assists, and the Portland Trail Blazers shook off a slow first half to beat the Utah Jazz 99-85 on Wednesday night.

CJ McCollum added 15 points and eight assists for the Blazers, who led by as many as 20 in the second half after the teams traded the lead in the first. It was Portland’s second consecutive victory following a three-game losing streak.

Gordon Hayward had 19 points for Utah, which had won two straight. The Jazz, who were coming off an 86-74 victory over the Lakers in Los Angeles, have not strung together three consecutive wins this season.

Jazz center Rudy Gobert, playing in his fourth game since missing 18 with a sprained left knee, had three points and eight rebounds. But Utah remained without Derrick Favors, who missed his 11th game because of a sore back. He was listed as questionable before the game.

The Blazers were coming off a 115-110 victory Monday over Oklahoma City, notable because Lillard scored 17 points -- including five 3-pointers -- in the last 3:07. He has played in five games since missing seven with plantar fasciitis in his left foot.

SACRAMENTO KINGS 97 — NEW ORLEANS PELICANS 109

Although it wasn’t one of his better games, the mere presence of Anthony Davis made a major difference for the New Orleans Pelicans.

Eric Gordon hit six 3s and scored 24 points, Davis also had 24 and the Pelicans snapped a four-game skid by beating the Sacramento Kings 109-97 Wednesday night.

Davis missed the previous two games because of a bruised back and his status was questionable earlier in the day. His importance to the Pelicans is evident in their 0-5 record without him this season.

Davis wasn’t as sharp as normal, but he didn’t have to be the way his team played overall. He shot 8 of 23, but had 10 rebounds and two steals.

“He’s our best player, our go-to guy,” Ryan Anderson said. “We rely a lot on him. We have extra confidence when he’s in there.”

That confidence showed. The Pelicans tied a team record by making 16 3-pointers. Gordon was 6 for 12 from long range and New Orleans was 16 for 33 overall. Gordon was one 3-pointer short of tying his career high.

New Orleans led by 15 at halftime and used a 15-0 run in the third quarter to build the lead to 25 points. Its bench outscored the Kings 47-34.

LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS 104 — MIAMI HEAT 90

Backup center Cole Aldrich had 19 points and seven rebounds in place of ailing DeAndre Jordan, and the Los Angeles Clippers used a thunderous third-quarter surge to beat the Miami Heat 104-90 Wednesday night for their 10th straight victory.

Jordan was sidelined because of pneumonia, ending the NBA’s longest active consecutive games played streak at 360.

The eight-year veteran, who led the league in rebounding the past two seasons, had the second-longest streak in franchise history behind Randy Smith’s 595 straight games with the Buffalo Braves.

Chris Paul had 15 points and 12 assists for Los Angeles. Aldrich, a five-year veteran making his first start in 17 games with the Clippers, made seven of 14 shots while playing a season-high 24 minutes.

The winning streak is the Clippers’ third of 10 or more games during the past four seasons. They also had an 11-game run in 2013-14 and won a franchise-record 17 straight in 2012-13 -- going 16-0 in December.

Miami (22-17) is the only team the Clippers have faced during their streak that currently has a record of .500 or better.

Reserve guard Gerald Green led the Heat with 19 points and Dwyane Wade added 16 points and eight assists. Miami’s third straight loss equaled its longest skid of the season and kept the Heat a game behind first-place Atlanta in the Southeast Division.

Originally published as NBA Wrap: Nuggets stun Warriors, Clippers win 10th straight, James Harden reaches milestone