NBA Roundup: Harden’s Triple-Double Leads Rockets

Houston — James Harden had a triple-double of 35 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists to help the Houston Rockets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 117-113, on Thursday night.

Harden also had five steals and a block as Houston extended its winning streak to four games.

LeBron James had 33 points for the Cavaliers, and Jeff Green added 27.

Houston led by seven after a layup by James with about 10 minutes left. The Rockets scored the next six points, capped by a 3-pointer by P.J. Tucker to make it 111-98. The Cavaliers used a 13-1 run, with five points from James, to cut the lead to 112-111 with 90 seconds left.

Harden missed a layup after that, but grabbed a rebound and threw an alley-oop to Clint Capela, who finished for Houston’s first basket since Tucker’s 3. He was fouled on the play and made the free throw to make it 115-111 with just over a minute remaining.

Wizards 111, Lakers 95

Washington — John Wall’s Wizards managed to make a double-digit edge hold up against the Lakers this time, with the All-Star point guard scoring 23 points and Bradley Beal 22 as Washington beat Los Angeles and cold-shooting Lonzo Ball.

Ball had 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. But the No. 2 overall draft pick out of UCLA came in making just 29.5 percent of his field-goal attempts for the Lakers and he was worse against the Wizards, going 3 for 12 — 25 percent.

Raptors 122, Pelicans 118

Toronto — DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points, Serge Ibaka had 19 and the Raptors beat New Orleans for their fifth straight win over the Pelicans.

Kyle Lowry scored six of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and Jonas Valanciunas grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds as the Raptors won for the 13th time in 16 meetings with New Orleans.

Chicago to Host 2020 All-Star Game

Chicago — The NBA is bringing the All-Star game to Chicago for the first time since Michael Jordan dazzled his home crowd in 1988.

A person familiar with the situation said the All-Star festivities will be held in the Windy City in 2020. The person spoke Thursday on the condition of anonymity because an official announcement has not been made.

Commissioner Adam Silver, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Bulls officials are expected to make the announcement today on the United Center court. Yahoo Sports first reported the news.

The last time the All-Star festivities were held in Chicago, Jordan put on quite a show.

He and Dominique Wilkins soared in an epic slam dunk contest, “His Airness” edging out the “Human Highlight Reel” with one last spectacular display.

After Wilkins threw down a windmill jam, Jordan walked to the opposite end of the floor, came running back as the crowd roared, took off at the foul line, clutched in the air and threw it down. Jordan got a perfect 50 and his second straight contest title.