HOUSTON (AP) — James Harden scored 16 of his 28 points in the third quarter to allow the Houston Rockets to build a huge lead and sail to an easy 109-93 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.

The NBA’s leading scorer took a little while to get going a night after sitting out against Dallas with a sore left knee and had just 12 points at halftime.

Despite his slow start, the Rockets had a comfortable lead in the third and were still up by 13 after a basket by San Antonio’s Dejounte Murray with about eight minutes left in the quarter. It was then that Harden took over, scoring the next eight points to start a 16-4 run that extended the lead to 82-57 with about 3 1/2 minutes left in the third and had coach Gregg Popovich calling for a timeout.

TRAIL BLAZERS 115, HEAT 99

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Damian Lillard had 32 points and 10 assists, and Portland beat Miami for its 10th straight victory.

Jusuf Nurkic added 27 points and 16 rebounds for the Blazers, who have the longest current winning streak in the NBA and a two-game lead over Oklahoma City for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

BUCKS 121,

GRIZZLIES 103

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Khris Middleton scored 24 points, Giannis Antetokounmpo added 20 and Milwaukee sent Memphis to its 18th consecutive loss.

Brandon Jennings, signed to a 10-day contract by Milwaukee on Sunday, finished two rebounds short of a triple-double with 16 points and 12 assists.

Eric Bledsoe added 14 points, including a trio of baskets to stem a fourth-quarter Memphis rally.