Feeling better after missing his first game of the season because of a flu-like virus, Dwight Howard promised to put on a show for his Mexican fans. And he delivered.
Howard, who missed Saturday’s game against the Golden State Warriors, had 22 points and 10 rebounds as he fed off the 18,996 fans at Arena Ciudad de Mexico to lead Houston in a 113-101 win over Minnesota in the first regular-season game played south of the border since 1997.
“It s a big honour to play in Mexico. We had an amazing time even though it was a super short trip. The last time we lost so I wanted to come back with a better effort,” Howard said. “I ve always wanted to come to Mexico. The fans were great. They were standing and cheering from warm-ups until the end ... I wish I could play all of our games here in Mexico”.
James Harden led the Rockets with 23 points and a team-high 10 assists, but was only 8-of-23 from the field.
Trevor Ariza added 19 points and Kostas Papanikolau scored a career-high 14 for the Rockets (7-1), who tied Memphis for the best record in the Western Conference.
“We want to be the best at the end of the year,” Howard said. “The West is a tough conference, but if we play hard, we can beat anybody. We want to hold the trophy at the end of the year. That’s what we talk about every day.”
With Ricky Rubio sidelined indefinitely after spraining his left ankle during Friday’s loss to the Orlando Magic, the Wolves lost their third straight game.
Corey Brewer scored 18 points and rookie Andrew Wiggins added 15 for Minnesota.
The Rockets played without starting point guard Patrick Beverley and couldn’t pull away until the third quarter.
“In the first half it was tough. We couldn’t get any stops,” Harden said. “In the third quarter we locked down and made a run to seal the game then.”
The teams played without incident nearly a year after a game between the San Antonio Spurs and Timberwolves was cancelled because a short circuit in a generator room sent smoke and fumes inside the Mexico City arena during warmups.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Pelicans 109 (4-3), Lakers 102 (1-7)
Anthony Davis had 25 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots, and the New Orleans Pelicans pulled away from the reeling Los Angeles Lakers for a 109-102 victory Wednesday night.
Tyreke Evans had 19 points and 11 assists for New Orleans. Ryan Anderson and Jrue Holiday each added 17 points.
Kobe Bryant scored 33 on 10-of-28 shooting, one night after setting the NBA record for most missed field goals in a career.
Carlos Boozer had 16 points and Jeremy Lin 15 for the Lakers.
The Lakers were as close as 63-60 in the middle of the third quarter, but the Pelicans closed the period on a 22-12 run that included nine points from Holiday.
New Orleans outscored Los Angeles 60-34 in the paint and shot 54.9 per cent compared to 41.7 per cent for the Lakers.
Pacers 81 (3-6), Heat 75 (5-3)
Chris Copeland scored 17 points and put Indiana ahead for good on a layup with 43 seconds left, and Roy Hibbert had 16 points and 15 rebounds to help the undermanned Pacers beat Miami.
Donald Sloan added 15 points for Indiana, who have won two straight after a 1-6 start.
Dwyane Wade scored 20 for Miami, who trailed by seven in the fourth quarter before tying the game twice but never recapturing the lead.
The Pacers outrebounded Miami 53-28, and the Heat missed 10-of-18 free throws. Chris Bosh was held to a season-low nine points on 3-for-13 shooting.
Miami had three late shots at the lead, but a jumper by Luol Deng missed, Hibbert blocked a dunk attempt by Deng, and Bosh airballed a three-pointer.
Indiana were missing six players, including four-fifths of their starting line-up from the last Pacers-Heat meeting – that being Game 6 of last season’s Eastern Conference finals. Hibbert was the lone returning first-stringer from that rivalry.
Trail Blazers 130 (6-3), Nuggets 113 (1-6)
Damian Lillard had 27 points and a season-high nine assists as Portland used a huge first half to hand skidding Denver their sixth straight defeat.
The Trail Blazers led 84-50 at half-time, one basket from matching the team record for points in a half (86) set against Golden State on January 5, 1986.
Portland showed no signs of fatigue, despite expending plenty of energy the night before in coming back from a 23-point deficit to hold off Charlotte at the buzzer.
Robin Lopez scored 15 of his 19 points in the decisive first half. LaMarcus Aldridge finished with 12.
Ty Lawson had 32 points for the Nuggets, who went on a 15-0 run in the third quarter and still trailed by 21.
Wizards 107 (6-2), Pistons 103 (2-6)
John Wall had 27 points and 11 assists as Washington held off Detroit.
The teams traded the lead on five consecutive baskets before Wall’s jumper with 1:11 to play put the Wizards ahead 101-100. Marcin Gortat, who had 13 points and 14 rebounds, dunked with 38 seconds to play, giving Washington a three-point lead.
Rasual Butler had 18 points for the Wizards. His two free throws with 4 seconds to play put Washington ahead 107-103. Butler made seven of his eight field goal attempts.
Detroit lost for the third straight time. Brandon Jennings scored 16 of his 32 points in the first quarter.
Thunder 109 (3-6), Celtics 94 (3-4)
Reggie Jackson had 28 points and eight assists, and Anthony Morrow scored 28 to lift injury-riddled Oklahoma City over Boston.
It was the second win in six games for the Thunder, who are missing stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
Jackson, a standout at nearby Boston College from 2008-11, posted his big game a night after scoring a career-high 29 in a loss at Milwaukee.
Rajon Rondo just missed his second triple-double of the season with 20 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds. Avery Bradley added 17 points for Boston, who had won their last two.
The Celtics went 9 for 33 from beyond the 3-point line.
Magic 97 (3-6), Knicks 95 (2-7)
Evan Fournier scored a career-high 28 points and Orlando bounced back from a poor finish with a good one, handing New York their sixth straight loss.
Nikola Vucevic added 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Magic, who led by 11 after three quarters in Toronto a night earlier, only to lose 104-100. This time, they trailed 85-84 midway through the final period before taking control.
Carmelo Anthony scored 27 points for the Knicks, who were held to 19 in the fourth quarter and still haven’t reached 100 this season.
New York had a chance at the end, but JR Smith was nowhere close on a potential winning three-pointer. Smith finished with 19 points.
Orlando snapped a four-game losing streak in New York.
Hawks 100 (4-3), Jazz 97 (3-6)
Paul Millsap had 30 points and 17 rebounds, and Jeff Teague added 17 points to help Atlanta beat Utah.
Kyle Korver’s three-pointer from the left wing with 58 seconds to play put the Hawks up 100-97 and marked the game’s 18th lead change.
Alec Burks finished with 22 points and Derrick Favors scored 20 for the Jazz.
Utah led by eight with 4:34 remaining, but the Jazz failed to score again, missing their final seven shots.
Korver had 17 points and 10 rebounds for Atlanta, who had won three straight. The only other points scored in the final minute were a pair of free throws from Teague with 5.7 seconds remaining.
Suns 112 (5-3), Nets 104 (4-3)
Gerald Green came off the bench to score 28 points and Phoenix erased a 19-point deficit to beat Brooklyn.
Isaiah Thomas added 17 points in a reserve role for the Suns.
In addition to his scoring, Green came up with a steal that led to a fast-break layup and three-point play by Goran Dragic for a 106-99 lead.
Joe Johnson had 21 points for the Nets, who led 63-49 at half-time.
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