Harden's 46 Too Much For Thunder

Russell Westbrook and the Thunder didn't have any answers for their old teammate James Harden Wednesday night.

Wednesday, February 20th 2013, 10:58 pm

By: News 9


James Harden and Jeremy Lin led a two-man assault, scoring the Rockets' final 21 points as Houston stormed from behind to beat the Thunder 122-119 Wednesday night.

The Rockets (30-26) came out on fire and it led to a nice lead early. Harden was on fire from downtown, nailing his first three 3-balls to give Houston an early 11-7 lead. The Rockets got on a roll and grew their lead as large as 12 when Greg Smith's dunk made it 34-22 late in the first quarter, but the Thunder would quickly answer.

Oklahoma City (39-15) put together a 14-4 burst to cut the Rockets' lead to 38-36 at the 9:10 mark of the second quarter, but they were just getting started. OKC followed that with a 24-14 run to open up a 60-52 lead late in the second. Houston responded, cutting it to 62-57 at the half.

Russell Westbrook led the Thunder's first-half effort with 18 points while Serge Ibaka added 10. Kevin Durant was quiet, scoring just nine points in the half, but he did grab seven boards.

James Harden's hot-shooting half kept Houston in the game. Harden scored 21 points on 5-7 shooting, including 5-6 from 3-point range. Lin's 12 points also helped keep the Rockets close.

The third quarter was owned by Thabo Sefolosha, who scored 14 points to help the Thunder maintain its five-point lead heading to the fourth. Lin scored eight in the third for Houston while Harden added nine, including a half-court shot as time expired.

Sefolosha continued his hot streak by opening the fourth quarter by draining a 3-pointer to give OKC the 95-87 lead. Sofolosha nailed another 3-ball at the 7:13 mark to give the Thunder a 107-93 advantage, its biggest lead of the night. Unfortunately for OKC, that's when things began to unravel. In fact, that was the last basket the Thunder would score until 26 second left to play.

Leading 109-97 with 6:22 to play, Houston streaked on a 14-2 run to tie the game at 111-111 with 2:20 to go. Houston kept its foot on the pedal, taking a 119-113 lead with 30 seconds to play. Trailing 120-117, OKC had one last chance, but Durant's 3-ball clanked off the rim and Harden finally got the better of his former team.

Harden finished with an incredible 46 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, while Lin poured in 29 points while dishing eight assists and grabbing six boards. Chandler Parsons added 17 and was the only other Rocket in double-figures.

Sefolosha and Westbrook each scored 28 points to pace the Thunder, while Durant recorded his second triple-double of the season, scoring 16 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and handing out 11 dimes. 

OKC shot 48.3 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from downtown.  The Rockets managed 47.8 percent and 45.5 percent from 3-point range. 

logo

Get The Daily Update!

Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News 9 delivered right to your inbox!

More Like This

February 20th, 2013

March 22nd, 2024

March 14th, 2024

February 9th, 2024

Top Headlines

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024

March 28th, 2024