By ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON (AP) — Brandon Podziemski had 26 points, De’Anthony Melton added 23 and the short-handed Golden State Warriors outlasted the Houston Rockets, 115-113, in overtime Thursday night, March 5.
The Warriors were up three with about 30 seconds left in overtime when Kevin Durant was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made the first two before a miss. Golden State got the rebound and Melton made a tip-in layup with 5.3 seconds left to push the lead to 115-112.
Durant made 1 of 2 free throws after and a foul by the Rockets allowed Golden State to hold on for the win.
Al Horford added 17 points for the Warriors as Stephen Curry sat out for a 12th consecutive game with a knee injury. The Warriors have said that he’s expected to be re-evaluated around Tuesday.
Reed Sheppard led Houston with 30 points, including six 3-pointers, and Durant added 23. It was tied with less than three minutes left in overtime before Podziemski made a 3-pointer followed by a driving layup to give Golden State a 111-106 lead about a minute later.
Amen Thompson made the first of two free throws before rebounding the miss on the second. Durant hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 1. Horford made a basket for Golden State to make it 113-110.
Alperen Sengun gave the Rockets the lead with about a minute left in regulation on a short basket before a 3-pointer by Horford put Golden State on top 101-99.
Another bucket by Sengun tied it with about 30 seconds remaining before Durant was called for a foul on Melton with 6.5 seconds left. But the Rockets challenged the call and it was overturned. The Warriors won the jump ball and called a timeout, but Gui Santos turned the ball over with 0.3 seconds remaining before Thompson missed a shot under the basket to send it to overtime.
Meanwhile, LeBron James broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record for career field goals in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-113 loss to Denver with the Nuggets getting 28 points each from All-Stars Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic.
James injured his left elbow on a layup that pulled Los Angeles to 110-106 with four minutes to go and left the game. He returned with 2:05 left and the Lakers trailing by a point. The Lakers, however, never were able to take the lead as the Nuggets finished off a crucial wire-to-wire win.
James finished with 16 points to go with Luca Doncic’s 27.
Jokic had his 23rd triple-double of the season with 28 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists to offset nine turnovers and help the Nuggets (39-24) stay a step ahead of the streaking Lakers (37-25) in the logjammed Western Conference.
Aside from his record-breaking bucket in the first quarter — the 15,838th field goal of his 23-year career — James had a couple of sensational baskets: a corkscrew reverse fastbreak layup and an off-balance, 18-foot turnaround jumper that pulled the Lakers to 64-54 at halftime.
And he had three straight jaw-dropping assists as the Lakers staged a fourth-quarter comeback that fell just short.
Earlier, Victor Wembanyama had 38 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks and the San Antonio Spurs never trailed in completing a sweep of Detroit, beating the Pistons, 121-106.
De’Aaron Fox had 29 points, and Stephon Castle added 11 points and 12 assists in San Antonio’s first game at home after a nearly a month-long trip.
Cade Cunningham had 26 points and Isaiah Stewart added 18 points in Detroit’s second straight loss. The Pistons, who closed their trip 1-2, remained atop the Eastern Conference at 45-16.
