James Harden scored a superb 49 points from 41 shots from open play as the Houston Rockets won their seventh straight game in the NBA on Saturday, winning away at the Minnesota Timberwolves by 125-105.

Harden stood up in the absence of the resting Russell Westbrook to carve apart the Timberwolves, his 41 attempts coming in as the most in the league so far this season.

Harden scored from 16 of those attempts, making eight from 22 from three-point range, while Karl-Anthony Towns had 27 points for Minnesota.

Meanwhile CJ McCollum scored 32 points as the Portland Trail Blazers edged out the San Antonio Spurs on the road, 121-116.

Damian Lillard scored 22 points for Portland while LaMarcus Aldridge had 30 for the Spurs, whose coach Gregg Popovich was ejected after walking onto the court to berate a referee.

In Los Angeles, Paul George scored 37 points as the Clippers crushed the Atlanta Hawks 150-101.

With Kawhi Leonard sitting out with a knee strain for LA, George was on song on his Clippers home debut, with help from Lou Williams's 25 points.

In Indianapolis, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 26 points and had 13 rebounds to help the Milkwaukee Bucks defeat the Indiana Pacers 102-83.

Brook Lopez added 15 points and eight rebounds for the Bucks, who took their win-loss record to 9-3.

Elsewhere, the Brooklyn Nets won 117-111 at the Chicago Bulls, the Charlotte Hornets won 103-102 in a thriller at the New York Knicks, the Miami Heat beat the visiting New Orleans Pelicans 109-94 and the Dallas Mavericks won 110-102 at home to the Toronto Raptors.