Los Angeles, United States—James Harden passed Wilt Chamberlain for the second longest 30-point-plus streak in NBA history, but the Houston star fouled out in the fourth quarter and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets 111-106.
Harden has now scored 30 points or more in 32 consecutive games but his early exit was followed moments later by Chris Paul’s sixth foul of the game as the Rockets imploded down the stretch to hand the Lakers the win.
Chamberlain previously had the second longest streak at 31 games and also holds the outright record with a streak of 65 30-point-plus games.
LeBron James scored 29 points, Brandon Ingram added 27 as Los Angeles rallied from a 19-point deficit midway through the third quarter in front of a crowd of 18,900 at Staples Center.
Elsewhere, Chris Middleton nailed a three pointer in the final seconds and Giannis Antetokounmpo finished with 30 points as the league leading Milwaukee Bucks edged the Boston Celtics 98-97.
Antetokounmpo, who is averaging 27.2 points a game this season, scored 12 of his points in the fourth quarter for the Bucks, who also won the season series over the Celtics two games to one.
Antetokounmpo added 13 rebounds and Middleton had 15 points and a season-high 13 rebounds. Malcolm Brogdon had 15 points for the Bucks, who have won 15 of the last 17 games, including nine of the last 10.
This was the first game back from the all-star break for both teams as Milwaukee improved to 44-14 on the season.
Antetokounmpo’s hand-picked all-star team lost to one selected by LeBron James. But he scored 38 of his team’s 164 points while grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing out five assists.
Meanwhile, disgruntled NBA All-Star Anthony Davis, who demanded a trade earlier in the season but didn’t get it, will have his playing time cut by the New Orleans Pelicans, interim general manager Danny Ferry said.
“You will see a reduction in Anthony’s minutes,” Ferry said as the Pelicans get set to visit the Indiana Pacers on Friday. It will be the first game back from the All-Star break for both teams.
Davis bruised his shoulder and had to leave the Pelicans’ last game before the break. Three days later he played just five minutes in the All-Star game.
Davis is expected to dress against the Pacers for the Pelicans, who are 26-33 on the season and six games out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
“My expectations, and the expectations of our fans, are that this team will compete at a high level for the remainder of the season,” said owner Gayle Benson.
“While we still have many more critical decisions to make when this season comes to an end, I am focused on making sure we are properly positioned to succeed and that we are headed in the right direction.”
Davis did not play when the Pelicans were beaten 109-107 at home by the Pacers on February 4.
Al Horford finished with 21 points and a season-high 17 rebounds for Boston against Milwaukee, and Jayson Tatum had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Kyrie Irving tallied 22 points and had a chance to win the game for Boston, but he stumbled while driving to the basket and missed an awkward shot as time expired.
Irving has battled a variety of injuries this season. He missed two games prior to the all-star break with a strained right knee.
The Celtics have now lost three of their last five games. The Lakers trailed for most of the game and were down 95-88 with 7:49 remaining when they went on a 17-4 run over a six-minute span.
The Rockets lead the league in three-point attempts and live and die by the long ball. They struggled mightily to make a three pointer in the fourth and then – to lose their two top offensive weapons down the stretch – was just too much to overcome.
Houston also lost their cool. At one point both Paul and coach Mike D’Antoni were slapped with technical fouls and by the time the Lakers finished shooting their free throws they had stretched the lead to 109-101 in the final minute.