CLEVELAND (AP) — James Harden scored 21 points to become the ninth player in NBA history with more than 29,000 career points, Keon Ellis added 19 off the bench, and the Cleveland Cavaliers cruised to a 115-101 victory over the short-handed 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 free throw in the first quarter, finishing the game with 29,017 points in 17 pro seasons.
Cleveland is 8-1 at home since Jan. 23, with its lone loss Sunday to surging Boston, and has won 18 of its last 24 overall. The Cavaliers are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, one game behind New York.
Quentin Grimes scored 17 points and Cameron Payne had 12 points for Philadelphia, which has lost two in a row and four of its last five to slip into eighth in the East. Justin Edwards added 14 points.
NETS 126, GRIZZLIES 115
NEW YORK (AP) — Day'Ron Sharpe matched a season high with 19 points, Ochai Agbaji added 18 and Brooklyn beat the injury-plagued Memphis for their second straight victory.
Nolan Traore added 17 points for the Nets, who were coming off animprobable 107-105 winat Eastern Conference-leading Detroit on Saturday night that snapped a 10-game skid.
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 straight and 11 of 14.
THUNDER 129, NUGGETS 126
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexanderdrilled a step-back 3-pointerwith 2.7 seconds left to cap a frantic final minute on a night he matched Wilt Chamberlain's record for consecutive 20-point games, and Oklahoma City beat Denver.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 35 points and a career-high 15 assists, becoming the second player in NBA history to have those totals and zero turnovers. He also had nine rebounds. In the third quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander reached the 20-point mark for the 126th straight game,equaling Chamberlain's streakfrom 1961-63.
With Oklahoma City leading 126-122, Denver's Nikola Jokic hit a 3-pointer and Oklahoma City's Jaylin Williams was called for an off-ball foul fighting through a screen. Jamal Murray made the free throw with 8.5 seconds remaining to tie the game.
Gilgeous-Alexander responded, elevating over Spencer Jones for his second 3 in the final 14 seconds. Denver's Aaron Gordon missed a 61-foot heave at the buzzer.
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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, in his return after missing 20 games with an abdominal strain and a sprained left ankle, added 24 points.
Jokic had 32 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists. It was his 24th triple-double of the season and the 188th of his career. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 28 points and Gordon added 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets.
JAZZ 119, WARRIORS 116
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Brice Sensabaugh scored 21 points, two-way player Blake Hinson made the go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minute, and Utah outlasted Golden State.
Hinson made four 3-pointers including a shot from beyond the arc on the right wing with 29.9 seconds remaining to shock the Warriors, who were without Stephen Curry and several other rotation regulars.
Kyle Filipowski contributed 19 points and 15 rebounds for Utah, which had lost eight of nine games.
De'Anthony Melton, who led the Warriors with 22 points, made a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 117-116, but Elijah Harkless, another two-way player, clinched the game for the Jazz with two free throws to reach a career-high 16 points.
CLIPPERS 126, KNICKS 118
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Kawhi Leonard scored 29 points, Bennedict Mathurin added 28 points, and Los Angeles beat New York to climb back to .500 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 try to improve their potential position in the NBA Play-in Tournament. They began the season in a 6-21 tailspin.
It was Leonard's 42nd straight game with 20-plus points, the second-longest active streak in the NBA and third-longest in team history.
Mathurin scored 22 in the second half off the bench as one of five Clippers in double figures. Darius Garland had 23 points and seven assists in his second start.
Karl-Anthony Towns led the Knicks with 35 points on 13-of-17 shooting, 12 rebounds and seven assists before fouling out in the final seconds. Jalen Brunson added 28 points and OG Anunoby had 22 points.