NBA: James Harden inspires Brooklyn Nets to win against Phoenix Suns

James Harden inspired the biggest half-time comeback in the history of the Brooklyn Nets as they recovered a 21-point deficit to beat the Phoenix Suns 128-124.

Harden scored 38 points for the Nets, who were without the injured Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.

They did not lead in the game until Harden scored a three-pointer with 31.4 seconds remaining.

“We had nothing to lose but to fight back,” said Nets coach Steve Nash.

“We took advantage of outstanding defence in our own end and James made some big shots.”

LeBron James scored 30 points to help the Los Angeles Lakers, who were without the injured Anthony Davis, beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 112-104.

Davis is expected to be out for several weeks after suffering an Achilles injury against Denver on Sunday.

“We’re not expecting one person to try to pick up AD’s productivity. Nobody’s going to be able to do that. He just brings too much to the table. But we all can do more,” said James.

The Lakers are one of the NBA’s best road teams this season, with their victory in Minneapolis making it 13 wins from 16 games away from Los Angeles.

Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone said his players need to do more to support Nikola Jokic after the Serbian scored 43 of their 99 points in their defeat to the Boston Celtics.

The Nuggets were without five rotation players, three of them starters, with Paul Millsap and Monte Morris joining Gary Harris, PJ Dozier and Will Barton on the sidelines.

“He needs help,” said Malone. “Every night Nikola goes out there and literally puts this team on his back.

“He leaves it all out there every night. That’s why he’s an MVP candidate, obviously, but it can’t be just one guy in this league. You need others to step up and contribute.”

Jaylen Brown scored 27 points while Jayson Tatum had 21 points and eight assists in a 112-99 win for the Celtics, who had lost four of their previous five games.

New Orleans point guard Lonzo Ball described team-mate Zion Williamson as a “once-in-a-lifetime player” after the 20-year-old inspired the Pelicans to victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Williamson scored 31 points in 28 minutes as the Pelicans ended a run of three straight road defeats to Memphis with a 144-113 win.

“Zion’s a once-in-a-lifetime player and can do a lot of different things on the floor,” said Ball.

“He definitely can score in the post, but he’s also very fluid with the ball up top, and we’re using that to our advantage this year.”

BBC