By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Slovenian Goran Dragic had 26 points and 11 assists, Willie Reed scored 20 points and Dion Waiters added 19 to lead the Heat to their sixth straight win Friday night, a 100-88 victory over the bickering Chicago Bulls.
“That we’re doing it as a team,” Dragic said. “We’re playing for each other, we’re fighting for each other. Everybody’s feeling comfortable. We know what we need to do. As long as we take care of business with the defense, we feel like can play with anyone.” German Paul Zipser had 14 points for Chicago, Spaniard Nikola Mirotic added 1 and 5 rebounds and Dwyane Wade had 15 off the bench against his former team.
James Harden scored 51 points and added 13 rebounds and 13 assists to lead the Rockets to a 123-118 victory over Philadelphia. Harden became the first player in league history with multiple 50-point triple-double performances in a single season. He scored 53 points and added 16 rebounds and 17 assists in a win over the Knicks on New Year’s Eve. Swiss big man Clint Capela added 15 points, while for the losing side Croatian Dario Saric has 12 points, French Timothe Luwawu Cabaro also 12, Spaniard Sergio Rodriguez 8 and Turk Ersan Ilyasova 4 points.
Despite 32 points by Mark Gasol and with Damian Lillard scoring 33 points, including 13 straight late in the fourth quarter, the Trail Blazers held off the Grizzlies 112-109. Here’s the rest of last night’s results and the euro-scorers.
Indiana – Sacramento 115-111 (Koufos 9 p. 12 r.)
Cleveland – Brooklyn 124-116 (Bogdanovic 17 p.)
Boston – Orlando 128-98 (Jerebko 7p. – Ibaka 4 p., Vucevic 14 p., Rudez 14 p., Hezonja 7 p.)
Toronto – Milwaukee 102-86 (Valanciunas 8 p. 11 r. – Antetokounmpo 19 p. 8 as., Teletovic 1 r.)
New Orleans – San Antonio 119-103 (Motiejunas 10 p. – Parker 7 p., Bertans 17 p.)
Atlanta – Washington 86-112 (Schroder 9 p. 5 as. – Sefolosha 2 p. – Gortat 15 p. 12 r., Satoransky 9 p.)
New York – Charlotte 110-107 (Porzingis 18 p., Noah 2 r., Kuzminskas 7 p., Hornangomez 4 p. -Batum 15 p. 11 r. 9 as., Belinelli 15 p.)
Eastern Conference
1 Cleveland Cavaliers 31-14
2 Toronto Raptors 29-18
3 Boston Celtics 28-18
4 Atlanta Hawks 27-20
5 Washington Wizards 26-20
6 Indiana Pacers 24-22
7 Charlotte Hornets 23-24
8 Chicago Bulls 23-25
Milwaukee Bucks 21-25
Detroit Pistons 21-25
New York Knicks 21-27
Philadelphia 76ers 17-28
Orlando Magic 18-30
Miami Heat 17-30
Brooklyn Nets 9-37
Western Conference
1 Golden State Warriors 39-7
2 San Antonio Spurs 36-10
3 Houston Rockets 35-15
4 LA Clippers 30-17
5 Utah Jazz 30-18
6 Oklahoma City Thunder 28-19
7 Memphis Grizzlies 27-21
8 Denver Nuggets 20-25
Portland Trail Blazers 21-27
New Orleans Pelicans 19-28
Sacramento Kings 18-28
Minnesota Timberwolves 17-29
Dallas Mavericks 16-30
Phoenix Suns 15-31
Los Angeles Lakers 16-34