NBA

The Lakers were determined to start the second half of their season on a high note following a loss that snapped a nine-game winning streak.

Lonzo Ball highlighted a season-high 27-point performance with a career-high seven 3-pointers, and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the undermanned Houston Rockets 127-112 on Sunday night for their fourth straight victory.

Singer and rapper Lizzo got up and twerked, revealing a cut out at the back of her short black T-shirt dress, and was shown on the stadium's huge television screens during Sunday night's Lakers game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Rockets are now inviting her to show her moves with the Clutch City Dancers.

The league announced Monday that it has denied the Rockets' protest of last Tuesday's game, which the Spurs won 135-133. A successful protest, which is rare, would result in part of the game being replayed.

The Rockets have filed a protest with the NBA for Tuesday night's loss to the Spurs. The protest comes after James Harden's dunk went in, but officials say it didn't.

The crew chief says James Harden's dunk in the fourth quarter that was waived off should have counted, but the team did not challenge the call in time.

Harden unloaded Saturday night, scoring 49 points on a whopping 41 shots from the field to lead the short-handed Rockets to their seventh straight victory, 125-105 over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

James Harden scored 47 points and the Houston Rockets outlasted the Clippers 102-93 in a wild game that saw Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers ejected in the fourth quarter Wednesday night.

Harden, the NBA’s leading scorer who has 35 regular-season triple-doubles in his career, had several minutes of garbage time in the fourth quarter to get additional assists, but was unsuccessful before leaving with a little more than three minutes remaining.

Olajuwon will be joined by another Rockets legend, Clyde Drexler, who will be catching the first pitch.

After LeBron criticized the Rockets' general manager's tweet supporting Hong Kong, social media users were quick to attack the NBA star.

The Rockets are back home in Houston, looking to leave behind the distractions from their trip to Asia.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league is not apologizing for Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey's since-deleted tweet showing support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong, even after China's state broadcaster canceled plans to show a pair of preseason games in that country later this week.

He was the bad boy of basketball, the former NBA player who went to North Korea, and he even once dated Madonna.

According to NBA sources Houston Rockets superstar James Harden has joined the ownership group of the Houston Dynamo and Houston Dash franchises.