Los Angeles (AFP)

For their first game without James Harden, who left for Brooklyn the day before, the Houston Rockets won Thursday night in San Antonio 109-105, thanks in particular to an excellent Christian Wood, author of 27 points and 15 rebounds.

Sterling Brown (23 pts) and Jae'Sean Tate (13 pts and 10 assists) also contributed to the victory of the Rockets, who now have to do without the MVP of the 2017/2018 season, transferred in a player exchange also involving the Indiana Pacers and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

At the Nets, Harden joins two other superstars in the person of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, to form a devastating "Big Three" on paper.

When asked how the Rockets felt 24 hours after this major deal between four franchises was made, Wood correlated it with the mindset of Lakers icon Kobe Bryant, who never gave up.

"We have the + Mamba Mentality +. It means everyone is thinking all the time, everyone has a lot to prove," said the strong winger.

"We are all mad dogs. It starts with DeMarcus (Cousins, pillar of the Rockets) for me. Everyone wants to get off the bench and play hard," assured Wood, who plays in his sixth NBA team since 2015.

Houston signed him in November for a three-year contract after he played 62 appearances for the Detroit Pistons last season (averaging 13.1 pts per game).

"My lifelong dream is to play in this League," assured Wood, who did not participate in the 2015 NBA Draft.

"The fact that I was often left free shows my resilience. I was tired of being cut. I was tired of being sent to the lower division. I had to hang on."

- Vengeful Pacers -

The 25-year-old made his Rockets debut in December, registering 31 points, 13 rebounds and three assists in a thrilling (128-126) overtime loss to Portland.

Equally entertaining was Thursday's win: the Rockets held on after being outscored 52-45 in the second and third quarters.

Spurs star DeMar DeRozan's shot, as the clock ended, bounced off the edge of the hoop twice before moving away harmlessly to seal the visitors' victory.

In Portland, Domantas Sabonis scored 23 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 111-87 victory over the Trail Blazers, who lost Bosnian pivot Jusuf Nurkic with a broken wrist.

Malcolm Brogdon added 25 points and seven assists for the Pacers, who ended an 11-game losing streak in Portland.

CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard each scored 22 points for the Trail Blazers.

Chris Boucher tied his career record with 25 points and added 10 rebounds in the Toronto Raptors' success against the Charlotte Hornets 111-108.

In Philadelphia, Shake Milton had his best points total this season, scoring 31 units.

Tobias Harris added 18 and the Sixers beat the Miami Heat 125-108.

© 2021 AFP