Harden scores 46 as Rockets edge Thunder
NBA: James Harden scored a career-high 46 points and Jeremy Lin added 29 as the Houston Rockets mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback for a 122-119 victory over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.
Houston was down by 14 points with about seven minutes left. The Rockets used a 21-4 run to erase the deficit and take a 114-111 lead with 1:46 remaining. Harden stepped back under heavy pressure from Serge Ibaka to sink a 3 to tie it, before Lin connected on one seconds later to give the Rockets the lead.
• Thompson leads Warriors: Klay Thompson had 28 points and eight rebounds and the Golden State Warriors snapped a six-game losing streak by beating the visiting Phoenix Suns 108-98.
• Miami wins eighth straight: Miami scored the first 13 points of the fourth quarter to erase Atlanta’s 10-point lead and the visiting Heat, led by LeBron James’ 24 points, beat the Hawks 103-90 to extend their season-best winning streak to eight games.
• Rockets deal four: A person familiar with the situation says the Houston Rockets reached separate agreements on trades that will send Patrick Patterson, Cole Aldrich and Toney Douglas to Sacramento and Marcus Morris to Phoenix.
The Rockets will receive Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt from the Kings.
In the other deal, the Rockets will receive a second-round pick from the Suns in exchange for Morris.
Kansas beats OSU in double overtime
MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Naadir Tharpe connected on a short jumper in the lane with 16.5 seconds left in the second overtime, lifting No. 9 Kansas (22-4, 10-4 Big 12) to a 68-67 win over No. 14 Oklahoma State (19-6, 9-4) at Stillwater, Okla.
Markel Brown scored 20 points to lead Oklahoma State, which had won seven straight – including snapping the Jayhawks’ 33-game home winning streak at Allen Fieldhouse earlier this month.
• Marshall hits winner for Rebels: Anthony Marshall’s short jumper just inside the free-throw line with 7 seconds left to lift UNLV (20-7, 7-5 Mountain West) to a 61-59 victory over No. 22 Colorado State (21-5, 8-3) at Las Vegas.
Voracek hits late goal for hat trick and win
NHL: Jakub Voracek scored the go-ahead goal with 1:31 remaining in the third period to cap a hat trick and lead the visiting Philadelphia Flyers to a wild 6-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
South Florida upsets No. 12 Louisville
Women’s college basketball: Andrea Smith tied a career-high with 35 points and visiting South Florida (18-7, 7-5 Big East) upset No. 12 Louisville (21-6, 9-4) 73-62 at Louisville, Ky.
• Indiana beats No. 22 Purdue: Jasmine McGhee scored 26 points, including the winning basket with 1 second remaining, as host Indiana (11-15, 2-11 Big Ten) knocked off Purdue (19-7, 8-5) 62-61 at Bloomington, Ind.
• TCU knocks off No. 23 Oklahoma State: Delisa Gross hit the winning shot with 1:04 remaining and TCU (8-17, 1-13) closed the game on an 11-0 run, defeating Oklahoma State (18-7, 7-7) 64-63 at Fort Worth, Texas, for its first Big 12 victory of the season.
Bulgarian wrestler says he’ll return gold
Miscellany: Bulgarian wrestler Valentin Yordanov says he’s returning his Olympic gold medal to protest the IOC decision to drop wrestling from the Olympic program.
The seven-time world champion, who won his freestyle gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, said the combined efforts of all national federations would help keep wrestling’s deserved place in the Olympic Games.
• AC Milan upsets Barcelona: Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari scored second-half goals, leading host AC Milan to a 2-0 upset of Barcelona in the first leg of their Champions League second-round matchup.
• Snow suspends golf in Arizona: Already a year of wacky weather on the PGA Tour, this topped it all: snow.
The opening round of the Match Play Championship was suspended when slush on the green gave way to snow that covered the fairways and greens at Dove Mountain in Marana, Ariz., and made it impossible to play.
The round is schedule to resume today.
• Hammer strikes gold: Sarah Hammer of the United States won her fifth career gold medal at the track cycling world championships at Minsk, Belarus.
• Serena Williams out: Serena Williams withdrew from the Dubai Tennis Championships because of a lower back injury.