CLEVELAND — James Harden scored 21 points to become the ninth player in NBA history to score more than 29,000 career points, Keon Ellis added 19 points off the bench and the Cleveland Cavaliers rolled to a 115-101 victory over the shorthanded Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night.
Donovan Mitchell had 17 points and six assists and Evan Mobley had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers. Harden reached the milestone with a first-quarter free throw, finishing with 29,017 points in 17 professional seasons.
Cleveland is 8-1 at home since Jan. 23 and has won 18 of its last 24, including a shutout win over Boston on Sunday. The Cavaliers are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, one game behind New York.
Quentin Grimes had 17 points and Cameron Payne had 12 for Philadelphia, which has lost its second straight game and dropped four of its last five games to eighth place in the East. Justin Edwards added 14 points.
NEW YORK — Day’Ron Sharpe tied a season high with 19 points, Ochai Agbaji added 18 and Brooklyn beat injury-plagued Memphis for its second straight win.
Nolan Traore added 17 points for the Nets, who were coming off an incredible 107-105 win at Eastern Conference-leading Detroit on Saturday night, snapping a 10-game losing streak.
The Nets, who rested leading scorer Michael Porter Jr., had six players score in double figures. The Grizzlies had only eight players available.
Rayan Rupert scored a career-high 20 points and Javon Small added 19 for Memphis, which has lost four in a row and 11 of its 14th.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander capped off a frantic final minute by hitting a stepback 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left. He tied Wilt Chamberlain’s record for consecutive 20-point games, and Oklahoma City beat Denver.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished the game with 35 points and a career-high 15 assists, becoming only the second player in NBA history to record such totals and zero turnovers. He also recorded 9 rebounds. In the third quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 points for the 126th consecutive game, tying Chamberlain’s streak from 1961-63.
With Oklahoma City leading 126-122, Denver’s Nikola Jokic made a 3-pointer, and Oklahoma City’s Jaylen Williams broke through a screen and called an off-ball foul. Jamal Murray tied the game by hitting a free throw with 8.5 seconds left.
Gilgeous-Alexander responded with his second 3 of the game, beating Spencer Jones in the final 14 seconds. Denver’s Aaron Gordon missed a 61-footer at the buzzer.
The Thunder are 6-0 since Gilgeous-Alexander returned from an abdominal strain that sidelined him for nine games.
Williams scored 29 points, and Ajay Mitchell, returning from a 20-game absence due to an abdominal strain and left ankle sprain, added 24 points.
Jokic scored 32 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists. It was the 24th triple-double of the season and the 188th triple-double of his career. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 28 points and Gordon added 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets.
SALT LAKE CITY — Brice Sensabaugh scored 21 points, two-way player Blake Hinson hit a 3-pointer in the final minute and Utah edged Golden State.
Hinson made four 3-pointers, including a shot from beyond the arc on the right wing with 29.9 seconds left, shocking the Warriors without Stephen Curry and several other rotation starters.
Kyle Filipowski had 19 points and 15 rebounds for Utah, which has lost eight of nine games.
De’Anthony Melton, who led the Warriors with 22 points, hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 117-116, but another two-way player, Elijah Harkless, finished the game for the Jazz with two free throws to score a career-high 16 points.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points, Benedict Maturin added 28 and Los Angeles climbed back to .500 with a win over New York for the first time since early November.
The Clippers are 32-32 and have won five of their first six games in March as they look to boost their potential standing in the NBA play-in tournament. They started the season with a 6-21 tailspin.
This was Leonard’s 42nd consecutive game in which he scored 20 or more points, the second-longest streak in the NBA and the third-longest streak in team history.
Mathurin had 22 second-half points off the bench, one of five Clippers to score in double figures. Darius Garland had 23 points and seven assists in his second start.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Knicks with 35 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists on 13-of-17 shooting before fouling out in the final minute. Jalen Brunson added 28 points and OG Anunoby added 22 points.
