Oklahoma City Thunder star Russell Westbrook has always been known as an individual player. "That's how I was taught the game - just enjoy matchups and have fun with it".
Still, they led 86-79 before Thunder guard Dennis Schroder closed the frame with 11 straight points to pull the team even at 90-all entering the fourth. Westbrook has 22 triple-doubles this season and 126 overall.
One game after the Lakers rallied from 18 points down to win in Boston on Rajon Rondo's buzzer-beater - and six days after the Patriots beat the Rams in the Super Bowl - the Clippers turned the "Beat L.A.! chants" to boos.
Harden led the Rockets with 42 points, reaching 30 points for the 29th straight game - two shy of Chamberlain for the second-longest streak in National Basketball Association history, but far behind Chamberlain's record run of 65 games.
The game started out reasonably close with the Thunder and the Rockets trading buckets as the Thunder finished the first quarter trailing 28-25.
Kemba Walker was 13-for-27 from the field and 9-for-17 on 3-pointers in reaching the 30-point mark for the fourth straight game, scoring 37 as Charlotte defeated host Atlanta.
Irving didn't return, and the Clippers, playing with four new players acquired at the trade deadline, overcame a 20-point deficit for a victory for the third time in their last five games. Parker scored 20 points and Portis had 10 points and 12 rebounds against their former team, helping Washington to a 64-38 advantage in bench points.
NY closed to 91-90 on a 3-pointer from rookie Kadeem Allen with 5 minutes left.
Houston had pushed its lead to 58-42 despite a mini-surge from Westbrook before landing what appeared to be a devastating blow: a 10-0 run that included 3-pointers from Paul and Harden plus three Harden free throws after Paul converted a technical assessed against George for protesting a call.
Reserve Jordan Clarkson scored 18 points to lead Cleveland, which has lost four straight and 10 of its last 12.
Justin Holiday added 15 points, rookie Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 14, newcomer CJ Miles had 13, Mike Conley 11 and Ivan Rabb 10.
DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points for the Spurs.
Jabari Parker and Bobby Portis returned to Chicago - the team that traded them this week - and scored 30 points between them to help the Wizards to a 134-125 victory over the Bulls.
Jonathan Isaac led the Magic in scoring for the first time this season with 17 points.
Julius Randle led the Pelicans with 21 points, and Jrue Holiday added 15.