HOUSTON — James Harden tallied a game-high 33 points and the Houston Rockets wrangled control in the second half by quickening the tempo to surge past the Utah Jazz 103-94 Thursday at Toyota Center.
The Rockets (18-19) scored 64 second-half points while shooting 65.7 percent from the floor to erase what was once a seven-point deficit. Houston produced 12 fast-break points following the intermission, 10 in the third quarter, to set the pace.
“I think we were playing for the most part pretty well defensively, offensively we were too slow,” Harden said of the first half. “We wanted to put an emphasis on pushing the basketball, getting stops and just running out.”
With the Jazz (15-20) fighting to remain in contention, Harden drilled a step-back elbow jumper with 2:46 remaining before adding a driving layup with 1:51 left to keep the advantage at 96-90.
He finished 13-for-25 from the floor despite missing all seven of his three-point attempts.
Terrence Jones chipped in 14 points and eight rebounds, while Jason Terry and Marcus Thornton scored 12 points apiece off the Houston bench.
Harden added eight rebounds and two of the Rockets’ 11 steals. Houston scored 16 points off 19 Utah turnovers.
“When you turn a team over you’ve got to take advantage of it,” interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said “You’ve got to get out on the floor. You’ve got to push.
“In the second half ... we committed to that and it was effective.”
Gordon Hayward paced the Jazz with 15 points, while Trevor Booker (12), Chris Johnson (11) and Trey Burke (10) scored in double figures off the bench. Utah dropped its third consecutive game and second to Houston this week.
Kings 118, Lakers 115
The Sacramento Kings squandered a 27-point lead but dug deep late for a 118-115 NBA victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in Kobe Bryant’s last game in the California capital.
Kings guard Rajon Rondo made a running basket to put Sacramento up by one with 21 seconds left and then forced a Lakers turnover as a contest that looked like a certain blowout came down to the wire.
Sacramento center DeMarcus Cousins then made two free throws and Lakers guard Louis Williams missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Bryant, the Lakers superstar who will retire at the end of this season, scored 28 points in his 34th and final regular season appearance in Sacramento.
Bryant returned from a three-game absence nursing a sore shoulder and executed a highlight-reel two-handed dunk that Lakers coach Byron Scott called a “young man moment.”
Bryant, who led the Lakers to three playoff series victories over the Kings, made 10 of 18 shots from the field and six of eight free throws, and became the third player in NBA history — and at 37 the youngest ever — to score 33,000 points in his career.
He took his tally to 33,010, but was on the bench for the night by the time the Lakers charged back into contention.
Rookie D’Angelo Russell scored 11 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter for Los Angeles.
Hawks 126, 76ers 98
Kent Bazemore scored 22 points, nine in a pivotal stretch late in the third quarter, as the Atlanta Hawks beat the mistake-prone Philadelphia 76ers 126-98.
Al Horford and Paul Millsap had 18 points each for Atlanta. Horford also had nine rebounds and three blocked shots, while backup guard Dennis Schroder contributed 14 points.
Bulls 101, Celtics 92
All five starters scored in double figures for the Chicago Bulls, who extended their season-high winning streak to six games with a 101-92 victory against the Boston Celtics at the United Center.
Jimmy Butler and Pau Gasol each had double-doubles to lead the Bulls (22-12). Butler finished with 19 points and 10 assists, while Gasol had 17 points and 18 rebounds for his 19th double-double this season. — Agencies
