The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Charlotte Hornets 117-109 on Monday as James Harden passed Shaquille O’Neal for ninth place on the NBA’s all-time career scoring list.

Harden hit a 3-pointer early in the third quarter to surpass O’Neal’s career total of 28,596 points and finished Monday’s game with 32 points and 10 assists.

Harden, who overtook Carmelo Anthony on the career scorers’ leaderboard earlier this season, is likely done moving up the list this season as he sits about 2,800 points behind Wilt Chamberlain for eighth.

Barring any serious injuries, Harden could move into the top 10 all-time in career assists by the end of next season.

In Monday’s game, it was Kawhi Leonard who led the Clippers in scoring with 35 points, connecting on five 3-pointers, as no other Los Angeles starter scored in double figures.

After a dismal start to the season, the Clippers (16-23) have won 10 of their last 12 games and have outscored opponents by an average of 9.2 points per game during that stretch.

LaMelo Ball had 25 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets, who lost in their first game since beating the Utah Jazz 150-95 on Saturday. Mousa Diabate added 13 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots.

 

Siakam makes late bucket, lifts Pacers over Celtics

Pascal Siakam made a tie-breaking floater with 6.8 seconds remaining, lifting the Indiana Pacers over the Boston Celtics 98-96 on Monday and giving the Pacers a season-high three-game winning streak.

The Pacers’ modest hot streak comes on the heels of a 13-game losing streak. Indiana (9-31) had been in sole possession of the worst record in the league but is now tied with the Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans for the fewest wins.

Siakam scored a team-high 21 points on 10-for-15 shooting while adding eight rebounds and six assists.

Jay Huff made four 3-pointers to finish with 20 points, while Andrew Nembhard contributed 13 points, six rebounds and nine assists.

Payton Pritchard led Boston with 23 points and eight assists as the Celtics (24-15) dropped their second consecutive game and fell to 2-12 this season when scoring 110 points or fewer.

Derrick White scored 18 points but was 7 for 21 from the field and missed a 3-pointer in the game’s closing seconds.

 

76ers avenge loss to Raptors

The Philadelphia 76ers scored 80 points in the first half and held on to beat the Toronto Raptors 115-102, avenging their overtime loss in Toronto on Sunday night.

Tyrese Maxey scored 23 of his 33 points in the first half and ended the game 10 for 16 from the field while shooting 6 of 9 from 3-point range.

Joel Embiid, who sat out Sunday’s game on the front end of a back-to-back, had 27 points and eight assists, while rookie guard VJ Edgecombe made five 3-pointers to score 15 points.

The Sixers (22-16) went into half-time up 80-51 and led by as many as 33, but their 16 turnovers allowed Toronto to shrink the final deficit.

The Raptors (24-17) once again were haunted by poor 3-point shooting, making 6 of 37 attempts from beyond the arc.

Immanuel Quickley led Toronto with 18 points, while Brandon Ingram had 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.