The cosmic shift in the East occurred last July a few weeks before Paul George’s career was dealt a severe blow when he broke his leg.
Three Phoenix players scored 19 points each as the Suns won despite having missed their first 21 3-point attempts.
James Harden has been so good this season that Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale has come to expect performances like the one he had Friday night.
The San Antonio Spurs’ offense is coming after a stretch of high-scoring games. There is still work to be done defensively.
Marcus Morris made the tiebreaking basket and scored 19 points, twin brother Markieff Morris and Eric Bledsoe also had 19, and the Phoenix Suns beat the Brooklyn Nets 108-100 in overtime Friday night.
LeBron James tossed a pass to no one in the corner. He argued about a call so vehemently that he received a technical. By the end of his frustrating night, the Atlanta Hawks had sent a clear message to the King:
Zach Randolph had 24 points and 13 rebounds, Marc Gasol scored nine of his 18 in the fourth quarter and the Memphis Grizzlies rallied for a 97-90 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.
Indiana keeps finding different ways to survive games without Paul George. On Friday, they simply wore down weary Chicago.
Isaiah Thomas scored 14 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and the Boston Celtics won for the fifth time in seven games, 104-98 over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.
Victor Oladipo had 32 points, 10 assists and five steals and the Orlando Magic held on to beat the Sacramento Kings 119-114 on Friday night.
Gordon Hayward scored 25 points to lead the Utah Jazz past the Philadelphia 76ers 89-83 on Friday night.
Nene scored 20 points, Marcin Gorat added 14 points and 17 rebounds and the Washington Wizards blew all but one point of a 35-point lead before holding off the short-handed Miami Heat 99-97 on Friday night.
Al Jefferson had 23 points and 13 rebounds and the Charlotte Hornets beat the Toronto Raptors 103-94 on Friday night in a game that had six technical fouls.