Houston, We Have A Comeback – NBA Roundup For February 21st

UNDATED (AP) — James Harden scored a career-high 46 points and Jeremy Lin added 29 as the Houston Rockets mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback for a 122-119 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Houston was down by 14 points with about seven minutes left. The Rockets used a 21-4 run to erase the deficit and take a 114-111 lead with 1:46 remaining. Harden stepped back under heavy pressure from Serge Ibaka to sink a 3 to tie it, before Lin connected on one seconds later to give the Rockets their first lead of the second half.

In the rest of the NBA:

— Dwight Howard had 24 points and 12 rebounds in helping the Los Angeles Lakers to an emotional 113-99 victory over the Boston Celtics in their first game since the death of owner Jerry Buss. The 80-year-old Buss died on Monday after an 18-month struggle with cancer.

__ The Indiana Pacers moved within a half-game of second place in the NBA Eastern Conference by routing the New York Knicks 125-99 behind Paul George's 27 points. David West had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Lance Stephenson added 14 points.

— The Miami Heat ran their winning streak to eight by rallying to beat Atlanta 103-90 behind LeBron James' 24 points. Dwayne (dwayn) Wade scored 20 as the Heat scored the first 13 points of the fourth quarter to erase the Hawks' lead.

— Zach Randolph had 17 points and 18 rebounds, Mike Conley scored 17 points and the Memphis Grizzlies won their fifth straight game, beating the Toronto Raptors 88-82.

— Greg Monroe scored 10 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter to spark the Detroit Pistons to a 105-99 victory over Charlotte. Brandon Knight had 21 for the Pistons before he left with a knee injury.

— Nikola Pekovic had 27 points and tied a career high with 18 rebounds to power the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 94-87 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

— Kyrie Irving scored 20 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 105-100 win over the New Orleans Hornets.

— Deron (DEH'-rihn) Williams scored 23 points and Brooklyn Nets escaped with a 97-94 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks after Monta Ellis missed on a chance to tie the game with three foul shots in the final seconds.

— Shawn Marion and Elton Brand scored 17 apiece and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Orlando Magic 111-96.

— Klay Thompson had 28 points and eight rebounds, David Lee finished with 19 points and 11 boards and the Golden State Warriors snapped a season-high, six-game losing streak by beating the Phoenix Suns 108-98.

UNDATED (AP) — The NBA trade deadline looms at 3 p.m. Eastern time today.

A person familiar with the situation says the Houston Rockets have reached separate agreements on trades that will send Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich and Toney Douglas to Sacramento and Marcus Morris to Phoenix.

The Rockets will receive Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt from the Kings, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced and was still pending league approval.

In the other deal, the person said the Rockets will receive a future second-round pick from the Suns in exchange for Morris, who will join his twin brother, Markieff, on the Phoenix roster.