Harden and Wall lead the Rockets’ victory over the Kings

James Harden scored 33 points and the base John Wall scored 22 points in his debut this Thursday with the Houston Rockets, who beat the Sacramento Kings 122-119.

Wall scored 22 points and nine assists for the Rockets, who also played their first game with DeMarcus Cousins y Eric Gordon. “It was great to get my first win,” Wall said. “My job is to help James (Harden) as much as possible and try to make it easier for him,” he added.

Wall came to the Rockets from the Washington Wizards in a trade that also involved Russell Westbrook. He scored his first points since December 2018, when he was injured. Since then he had not played a game again.

Harden hit two free throws late in the game as the Rockets held on to victory. The Kings had a chance to tie, but missed two triples in a row in the closing seconds in front of an audience limited by the coronavirus pandemic of 3,200 viewers.

Harden also dished out eight assists and grabbed six rebounds in the first of two straight meetings with the Kings. The two teams will meet again in Houston this Sunday.

Domantas Sabonis shines with the Pacers

On the other hand, the Cameroonian Joel Embiid scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the Philadelphia 76ers win over the Orlando Magic 116-92.

Embiid scored all of his points in just three quarters for the Sixers, who converted eight of their first twelve attempts from three in front of 3,000 fans at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. The Magic were the last undefeated team in the NBA, with a surprising 4-0 start for the first time in franchise history.

Seth Curry added 21 points, 15 of them from the 3-point line, and Tobias Harris had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Sixers, who went on to win by 37 points in the first half. Australian Ben Simmons finished with nine points and 10 rebounds. Swiss Nikola Vucevic finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, while rookie guard Cole Anthony came off the bench to score 16 points.

On the other hand, the Toronto Raptors achieved their first win of the season, ending its worst start in 15 years. Fred VanVleet finished with 25 points, while point guard Kyle Lowry had 20 and the Raptors beat the New York Knicks 100-83. Toronto was missing Pascal Siakam from Cameroon, who did not dress for the game but sat on the bench with his teammates.

In Indianapolis, the Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis masterfully guided the Indiana Pacers victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers by 119-99.

The Pacers center finished the game with 25 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, to lead six Indiana players with double figures. Sabonis was escorted by power forward Doug McDermott, who excelled with 18 points and nine sacks off the bench. Malcolm Brogdon with 17 points, Víctor Oladipo (16 and eight assists), Myles Turner (14) and Aaron Holiday (12) also stood out.

The Pacers hit 16 of 35 triples for 48 points, while the Cavaliers did it 12 times on 23 attempts (36). Collin Sexton and Darius Garland stood out for the Cavaliers with 28 and 21 points, respectively, followed by center Andre Drummond with 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Indiana entered the game as second in the Eastern Conference with a 4-1 record, while the Cavaliers did so in sixth place with a 3-2 record.

In other games of the day, the Chicago Bulls beat the Washington Wizards 133-130, the New Orleans Palicans defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 133-80 and the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Utah Jazz 106-95.