James Harden and the Houston Rockets beat LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 117-112 in the NBA on Sunday (Monday AEDT).
Harden had a triple-double of 38 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds to outduel fellow MVP candidate James and lead the Rockets to victory.
"We beat Golden State. We beat San Antonio, but that was earlier," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We haven't had one (recently), so this was good. This will give us a little boost."
It was the 16th triple-double this season for Harden and his 31st game with at least 30 points.
"It's a big win for us, especially because we're down the stretch and it's time to begin preparing ourselves for post-season," Harden said. "Big win against the defending champs."
James had 30 points and Irving scored 28 for the Cavaliers, who lost for the fourth time in five games.
Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue thinks James and Irving struggled after the team also played on Saturday night.
"We played hard and fought down the stretch and got tired," Lue said.
"I thought LeBron got tired and Kyrie got tired. What we took advantage of in the first half, we weren't able to get those things in the second half because our guys got tired."
In Brooklyn, Jeremy Lin ended an 0-for-9 start with a three-pointer that halted a Knicks comeback, and the Nets beat New York for their first home victory of 2017.
The Nets ended a 16-game losing streak with the 120-112 win at Barclays Center. They hadn't won there since December 26, when Lin strained his hamstring in a victory over Charlotte.
The Celtics beat Chicago 100-80 in Boston, with Isaiah Thomas scoring 22 points and later joining fans doing the wave as it circled TD Garden. It was Chicago's fifth successive loss.
Elsewhere, Indiana beat Miami 102-98, Portland beat Phoenix 110-101 and Philadelphia beat Los Angeles 118-116.
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