BROOKLYN • Chris Paul decided to take things into his own hands, as he had 32 points and 11 assists to end the Houston Rockets' four-game National Basketball Association skid.
Besides contributing a season-high in points and assists in the 119-111 win at the Brooklyn Nets, he decided to "coach" by example as well - calling for what was, essentially, a players-only time-out talk to thrash things out.
"We've been playing a lot of games now and the coaches try to do schemes," the point guard, 33, was quoted as saying by the Houston Chronicle.
"We just said, 'Y'all stay out a second, let us talk.' I mean, at some point enough is enough.
"We talked about it as a team. 'What are we going to do?'
"They were just scoring every attack. We just needed that. We came together and put together some stops."
It proved to be the turning point for coach Mike D'Antoni's men in their third straight game without their injured star, James Harden (strained left hamstring).
-
70
Games Chris Paul has scored 30 points or more.
They trailed by 14 points, 57-43, with three minutes to go before half-time. Until then, the Nets (3-6) were delighting their own Barclays Centre crowd by shooting 71.9 per cent but they were held to only four more points before the break.
Paul kept them close with 13 points in the second quarter, including a long three-pointer that cut it to 61-56 at half-time.
He helped the Rockets avoid their first 1-6 start since 2010-11 by shooting 13 for 27 from the field. He also had seven rebounds and five three-pointers, including another buzzer-beater in the third quarter.
It was his 70th career game with at least 30 points, but first since Jan 26 at New Orleans.
Carmelo Anthony put the Rockets ahead for good with about seven minutes left in the third quarter by hitting consecutive threes in a season-best 28 points.
He also hit consecutive threes with about five minutes remaining in the fourth to stem a Nets run and give Houston a 106-102 lead.
Clint Capela dominated inside with 22 points and 13 rebounds as the Rockets outscored the hosts 76-54 over the final 27min 11sec. Eric Gordon added 21 points as they shot 49.4 per cent from the field.
Caris LeVert scored a career-high 29 points for the Nets, who also shot 49.4 per cent while losing for the fourth time in five games. Joe Harris added 18 and Spencer Dinwiddie contributed 12, though he committed a 24-second violation during a three-point attempt that would have brought the Nets within 111-107 with 71 seconds left.
At the Oracle Arena in Oakland, Klay Thompson saved 10 of his 22 points for the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, helping hosts Golden State overcome a deficit to beat Minnesota 116-99.
Kevin Durant led all scorers with 33 points and Stephen Curry had 28 with nine rebounds and seven assists for the NBA champions (9-1), who won their seventh straight but failed to reach 120 points for the first time during the streak.
Andrew Wiggins had 22 points, and Jimmy Butler scored 21 for the Timberwolves (4-5), who lost Derrick Rose five minutes into his first stint off the bench with an ankle injury. Rose was coming off a career-high 50-point explosion on Wednesday at Utah.
REUTERS
