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SAN ANTONIO -- When the San Antonio Spurs finally stopped James Harden, his Houston Rockets teammates came through on defense.Harden had a triple-double with 24 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds, and Houston made two late defensive stands to hold off San Antonio 101-99 on Wednesday night, handing the Spurs their third straight home loss.It was important for us, Harden said. The only way were going to get to where we want to go is on the defensive end. The game wasnt pretty at all, but defensively we got stops.Kawhi Leonard scored 34 points for the Spurs but missed his final two shots, either of which could have tied the game. After Leonard missed a layup in the final seconds, LaMarcus Aldridge missed a tip-in attempt at the buzzer.Aldridge finished with 14 points and five rebounds.It was a good play called, Leonard said of his last shot. I got to the paint, got a shot off, just didnt fall. (Aldridge) had a good chance, it just fell short, but well take that again.Leonard made 11 shots on a career-high 26 field goal attempts.San Antonio extended its longest skid at home since dropping three straight overtime games in December 2014. The Spurs did not lose at home last season until April 11 against Golden State and tied an NBA record by finishing 40-1 at the AT&T Center.Its tough to win in this building, Rockets forward Ryan Anderson said. Theyre a team that obviously has some great players. To get a win in here, youve got to be happy.The Spurs used a rotation spearheaded by Leonard and Danny Green to defend Harden, but found little success.Harden set an aggressive tone early with nine points, six assists and three rebounds in the first quarter.Hes always been a great passer, San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. He has the ball in his hands a lot more as the point guard. He is one of the best players in the league. Very difficult to guard.When Harden wasnt draining jumpers and tossing in runners, he kicked the ball out to open teammates after drawing multiple defenders on his drives.The Rockets were 10 for 30 on 3-pointers and shot 47 percent overall in snapping a four-game skid at San Antonio.Anderson was 4 for 6 on 3-pointers and had 20 points. Eric Gordon scored 15 and fellow reserve Sam Dekker added 12.Coach is liable to call anybody and guys stepped up, Harden said. Dekker hit some big shots.The Spurs sat Pau Gasol the entire second quarter in favor of a quicker lineup and it helped them erase a 13-point deficit to take a 51-50 lead.San Antonio employed the same strategy late in the third to pull within a point twice, but could not overcome the Rockets even when Harden struggled.He missed his final three shots as well as a pair of free throws and committed a turnover in the final 3 minutes, yet Houston was able to win with defense.They had my back, Harden said. But those turnovers, those cant happen consistently, or two missed free throws.TIP-INSRockets: Harden had his streak of four straight games with at least 30 points and 12 assists snapped. ... Houston played seven of its first eight games on the road. The last team to open with such an arduous schedule was Cleveland in 1970-71. ... Corey Brewer started his second straight game. Gordon started the teams first six games.Spurs: Tony Parker missed his third consecutive game with a sore right knee. Popovich expects Parker to play Friday at home against Detroit or Saturday in Houston. ... Manu Ginobili joined Rashard Lewis as the only second-round draft picks in NBA history with 13,000 career points and at least 1,300 3-pointers. Ginobili is the 15th second-rounder to reach 13,000 points. ... Green became the sixth player with at least one 3-pointer in 300 games for the Spurs. Parker, Ginobili, Bruce Bowen, Matt Bonner and Sean Elliott are the others.GOOD FITHardens move to point guard has paid off for the Rockets, who are tied with the Spurs atop the Southwest Division at 5-3.Hes scoring a bundle and getting about 10 assists a game, Popovich said. I think anybody would take that. Thats pretty darn good.DANNY BOYGreen made his season debut for San Antonio, scoring eight points in his return from a strained left quadriceps. He missed his first 3-point try but drained his second from the right corner and finished 2 for 8 on 3s.I thought Danny was great, Popovich said. He hit big shots. He drove it a few times. He played good defense. I thought he looked really good.UP NEXTRockets: Host San Antonio on Saturday.Spurs: Host Detroit on Friday. Glen Rice Jersey . -- In one brief spurt, Brazil turned a close game into a rout and proved again it will be a strong World Cup favourite. Robert Franks Jersey . The visitors took a deserved lead in the 16th minute with midfielder Yohan Cabaye curling the ball beyond Adrian from inside the penalty area. https://www.hornetslockerroom.com/Caleb-Martin-City-Edition-Jersey/ . -- If Henry Burris has his way, he will be the starting quarterback to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats back to the Grey Cup next year. Malik Monk Jersey . The nimble-footed quarterback got his wish, dashing through the snow and a weary defence all the way into the NCAA record book. Devonte Graham Hornets Jersey . -- Jaye Marie Green shot a 4-under 68 on Thursday to increase her lead to five strokes after the second round of the LPGA Tours qualifying tournament. CLEVELAND -- Cavaliers forward Kevin Love set an NBA record for points in a first quarter by scoring 34 on Wednesday night against the?Portland Trail Blazers.Love fell three points shy of the league record for points in any quarter, set by Golden State Warriors?guard?Klay Thompson, who scored 37 in the third on Jan. 23, 2015.Im not trying to be nonchalant about it, but sometimes when youre in it, you dont necessarily feel it, said Love, who finished with 40 points in Clevelands 137-125 win. It was nothing out of the ordinary, as far as our play-calling and flow of the game.Love grew up near Thompson in Lake Oswego, Oregon, but didnt realize how close he came to eclipsing his childhood friends record.I didnt know that was the record, he said. I wasnt really aware of it.Love, who established a Cleveland team record for points in any period, made 11 of 14 field goal attempts, including a career-high eight 3-pointers on 10 attempts in the period. He outscored the Trail Blazers 34-31 during the Cavs 46-point first quarter.?He beat them by himself, Loves teammate?J.R. Smith?told Fox Sports Ohio at halftime.?To hit shots like that in the first quarter -- never seen it.Love missed his only shot in a scoreless second quarter, scored six points in the third and went scoreless again in the fourth. He made 12 of 20 shots in all, including 8 of 12 3-pointers, and recorded his first 40-point game since April 14, 2014, with the?Minnesota Timberwolves.The Cavs?LeBron James previously held the franchise record for points scored in any quarter with 24, which he did three times. James career high is 25 in a quarter.IIts great, said James.dddddddddddd I mean, Ive always loved seeing my teammates catch one of those moments right there and just try to keep him in that zone as much as possible. I went over and told him just whatever youre doing, wherever youre at right now, just stay right there. Stay even keel. Whatever youre thinking about right there, just stay there, because were going to keep coming to you.In the first quarter alone on Wednesday, Love matched the most points he has scored in a game since joining Cleveland; he poured in 34 against the Orlando Magic exactly one year ago.Love started the game 7-for-7 (including 6-for-6 from 3), as Cleveland built a 15-point lead in the first 4 minutes, 24 seconds.Every game that we start out, the first play of the games for Kevin, said Cavs coach Tyronn Lue. You know, he made the little step-back jump shot, and then he made his first couple 3s and then we just started looking for him.Cavs guard?Kyrie Irving?offered his take on Loves fast start.In order to aid him, we just tried to get him open; [he] got himself open and [he] made incredible, aggressive moves, Irving said. When Kev is like that, that type of night can happen any night for him.Loves career high for a game is 51 points, which came while playing for the?Timberwolves on March 23, 2012. Loves previous high this season was 27 points.Obviously, we had a huge hot hand, James added. We had a guy that was lightning.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.? ' ' '