Hawks' Howard sinks Houston in homecoming

Former Rocket lights it up in first game back

Dwight Howard repeatedly insisted this had nothing to do with revenge.

Howard scored 24 points and grabbed 23 rebounds in his first game in Houston since signing with Atlanta in the offseason, leading the Hawks to a 113-108 victory over the Rockets on Thursday night.

"I didn't really think about it like that," Howard said. "It wasn't like, 'Aww, we've got to beat Houston because it's my first time back.' I just knew we needed the win."

Howard, who spent the last three seasons in Houston, received a mostly warm welcome at Toyota Center.

"I appreciated my time here. I chose this city in free agency, and I chose it for a reason," he said.

"I think Houston is a great place, but with the business of basketball, I felt like coming home would be great for my career."

Howard dominated the game early, winning the tip against Capela and scoring eight points in the first four minutes. He had a double-double before halftime.

The Hawks trailed by as many as 20 points and entered the fourth quarter down 13 before Howard led a late comeback.

Tim Hardaway Jr. had a career-high 33 points for Atlanta, including a driving dunk with less than a minute remaining that gave the Hawks a three-point lead.

Hardaway scored 23 points in the fourth quarter, going 8 for 11 from the field, 3 for 5 from the 3-point line and 4 for 5 from the foul line.

Howard said Hardaway gets a scary look on his face when he's angry enough to take over a game, and he saw that look in the fourth quarter.

Teammates teased Hardaway in the postgame locker room, jokingly providing him special services, such as bringing him deodorant and offering to fix his dinner.

"These guys can play all they want, but what was working was DeAndre Bembry - you've got to give him all the credit," Hardaway said.

"He took the challenge of guarding possibly the MVP of the season. It's a hard task, but he stayed disciplined."

Bembry matched up with James Harden for nearly the entire fourth quarter, holding him to just six points in the period.

Harden finished with 41 points, eight assists and eight rebounds, but the Rockets struggled to make shots down the stretch. Clint Capela had 22 points and nine rebounds.

Houston lost its lead when Hardaway was fouled on a driving layup and converted the free throw to give Atlanta a one-point lead with two minutes remaining.

During the fourth-quarter rally, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer made the bold call to leave starters Paul Millsap and Dennis Schroder on the bench to keep the streaking unit in the game

"I think it speaks to the character of the team to keep fighting until you find the right group that gave us the chance to win," Budenholzer said. "That group found a way without two of our best players, and that was special."

Another milestone for Popovich

Gregg Popovich greeted his latest career milestone with his usual self-deprecation and deflection, insisting he only achieves these records because he is old.

Friends and players rarely disagree with the San Antonio Spurs' emotional coach. But this time they did.

Popovich, 68, tied the NBA record for the most career wins with a single franchise, earning his 1,127th in the Spurs' 102-86 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night.

Popovich matched Jerry Sloan of Utah for the league mark, but did so while saying he's not the equal of the coach who resigned in 2011 after 23 seasons with the Jazz.

"He's in a different league than me," Popovich said.

Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said that's nonsense. He spent 11 seasons with San Antonio before joining the 76ers and is one of Popovich's closest friends.

"In 2017, where professional sports are so ruthless and cutthroat, survival rates and people that can last are rare," Brown said. "He would say, 'Well, that must mean I'm old.' I think it means he's good, really good."

Popovich's abilities are evident this season. San Antonio has seven new players on its roster and lost franchise stalwart Tim Duncan to retirement in the offseason.

Despite the turnover, the Spurs maintained the league's second-best record at 38-11 with their 12th straight victory at home and 11th straight overall against the 76ers.

"It's amazing," said Spurs veteran Tony Parker. "To have Pop up there, he's going to keep going. It looks like he's not getting tired, he's not going to stop anytime. It's very impressive to coach that long and keeping your team motivated with the same message, it's not easy."

San Antonio had 15 steals and forced 23 turnovers, both season highs.

Atlanta Hawks' Dwight Howard shoots over Houston Rockets' James Harden during Thursday's game. AP