James Harden makes big Sixers debut scoring 27 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds in rout | NBA News

James Harden finished with 27 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds on his debut to lift the Philadelphia 76ers past the Minnesota Timberwolves 133-102 on Friday.

After being sidelined with a strained hamstring in his first four games with the Sixers, Harden made quite an impression in first game on the court since being acquired with Paul Millsap from the Brooklyn Nets for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two first-round draft picks.

“I mean, for me, I haven’t been on the court in so long it feel like, my body feels great, personally, and then just to be around these guys who have the same common goal, coaching staff, and just top to bottom of winning and tonight I think defensively we were really good, and that’s what led to our offense being even better,” said Harden.

“I don’t know why [I have a reputation as a bad team-mate]. That’s for the media. The media say that. I feel like I’m one of the best team-mates that the NBA’s seen, on the court and off the court.”

Joel Embiid had 34 points and 10 rebounds, while Tyrese Maxey contributed 28 points and four steals and Matisse Thybulle chipped in with 11 points for the Sixers.

Karl-Anthony Towns led the Timberwolves with 25 points, D’Angelo Russell added 21 and Anthony Edwards had 15. Jaden McDaniels also scored 10 points.

Clippers win battle of LA

Marcus Morris Sr. hit a go-ahead jumper with 39.4 seconds remaining and the Clippers benefitted from a key call reversal 13 seconds later in a battle of Los Angeles teams.

The wild finish featured two flipped calls, one that followed a Russell Westbrook miss with 26.3 seconds left and gave the Clippers possession. A second replay reversed a foul call on the Lakers, who missed multiple chances to tie in the closing seconds.

Terance Mann led seven players in double figures with 19 points for the Clippers, who beat the Lakers for a third straight time this season. LeBron James was held to a team-high 21 points for the Lakers, ending his run of 23 straight games with 25 or more points.

Pelicans end Suns’ streak

CJ McCollum scored 32 points and Brandon Ingram added 28 as visiting New Orleans ended Phoenix’s eight-game winning streak.

Devin Booker scored 30 points, Deandre Ayton had 20 and Cam Johnson added 15 to lead the Suns, who lost for just the second time in 21 games.

Heat overcome Barrett heroics

Tyler Herro scored a team-high 25 points off the bench for visiting Miami, which overcame a 46-point effort by RJ Barrett to beat New York.

Bam Adebayo finished with 16 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots, Jimmy Butler scored 23 points and Kyle Lowry added 19 points and nine rebounds for the Heat, who won for the seventh time in eight games.

Barrett, who missed the final four games before the All-Star break due to a sprained left ankle, scored 30 points in the first half – just six shy of his career high entering the night – and ended up with the most points by a Knicks player since Carmelo Anthony scored 46 points against the Utah Jazz in 2014.

Jazz edge out Mavericks

Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points – with seven three-pointers – and Utah’s defense stiffened in the second half en route to a win over Dallas in Salt Lake City.

Rudy Gobert contributed 14 points, 17 rebounds, three blocks and two big buckets late in the fourth quarter. Bojan Bogdanovic added 18 points as the Jazz won in the teams’ first game back from the All-Star break.

Spurs win thriller

Keldon Johnson and Jakob Poeltl had career-high scoring games, Dejounte Murray produced his 12th triple-double and San Antonio needed all of it to beat host Washington in double overtime.

Johnson led the Spurs with 32 points, Poeltl added 28 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, and Murray — fresh off his first All-Star Game appearance – racked up 31 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds.

Rozier leads Hornets over Raptors

Terry Rozier had 23 points, nine assists and four rebounds and Charlotte led all the way to rout visiting Toronto.

Kelly Oubre Jr. also scored 23 points for the Hornets, who had lost their three previous games and nine of the past 10.

Montrezl Harrell contributed 20 points and 10 rebounds for Charlotte, LaMelo Ball and P.J. Washington each scored 13 points, and Miles Bridges had 11 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Gilgeous-Alexander on fire for Thunder in OT win over Pacers

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander posted 36 points, eight rebounds and five assists to lead Oklahoma City past host Indiana.

The Thunder won for just the second time in nine games, while the Pacers have dropped eight of their last nine.

Magic beat Rockets to end losing streak

Chuma Okeke scored 10 of his career-high 26 points in the fourth quarter, Wendell Carter Jr. finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds and host Orlando ended a four-game losing streak at the expense of Houston.