Harden's 37 points helps Rockets edge OKC

Posted: November 2, 2015 -- 10:35 pm.

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- The Houston Rockets got back to basics Monday night. They played with energy. They played with effort and passion. They dove on the floor for loose balls. And, James Harden played like James Harden. Add up those factors and they equal a 110-105 come-from-behind victory for the Rockets over the Oklahoma City Thunder. Tonight's win snaps the Rockets 3-game losing streak.

"I didn’t feel up to this point we fought hard enough, stayed diligent enough, stayed anything enough to win games. We weren’t very good for three games," Kevin McHale said.

The Rockets struggled to score points in the first quarter and trailed OKC 26-21 after 12 minutes. Then, the Rockets committed two turnovers in less than 2 minutes into the second quarter and the Thunder increased the lead to 33-23.

Both teams shot very well in the second quarter. The Rockets made 13 of 21 field goals (61.9%) while the Thunder shot 57.1% (16 for 28 field goals).

OKC outscored the Rockets 39-33 in the second period and led 65-54 at halftime; however, James Harden nailed a long two point jumper and a three-point shot to close the half which sparked his team and seemed to give Harden a boost of extra confidence. Harden scored 19 points in the first half.

"The first couple of shots. I hit the first two shots," James Harden said, 'I was like okay, I got something today.' It all goes back to the work, usually on shoot-arounds. When we have back to backs, we don’t have shoot-arounds and I came in this morning and put some shots up just to get my mind right mentally. That’s what I’ve got to do. I’ve got to continue to just work, it doesn’t matter if I make or miss shots. If I’m putting the work in, the confidence will be there."

With 9:24 remaining in the third quarter, the Rockets trailed 71-57; however, the game turned when OKC's superstar guard, Russell Westbrook, headed to the bench with his fourth foul.

With Westbrook on the bench, the Rockets took advantage and forced the Thunder to commit 10 turnovers in the quarter -- seven turnovers as a result of Rockets' steals.

The Rockets outscored the Thunder 25-8 while Westbrook sat on the bench; and, the Rockets took an 82-79 lead into the fourth period.

The fourth quarter featured four ties and 8 lead changes; but, after James Harden missed a three-point shot, Ty Lawson picked up the long rebound and dished to Trevor Ariza. Ariza nailed a three-point shot to give the Rockets a 102-99 lead  with 3:40 remaining in the game. The Rockets never trailed after Ariza's clutch bucket.

Harden finished the game with a game-high 37 points while Ty Lawson scored 14 points and dished out a team-high 11 assists.

"I was just trying to be more aggressive," Lawson admitted. "The first three games, I think I was deferring and not being myself. I was getting into the paint and finding people. I’m going to keep playing like that if it helps us win and get better."

Dwight Howard scored 16 points and Marcus Thornton and Corey Brewer each scored 12 points.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 29 points; but, Durant had 5 of the Thunder's 25 turnovers. Russell Westbrook scored 25 points and dished 11 assists; but, he turned over the ball a game-high 7 times.

Durant said, "We had 25 turnovers and we gave up 21 points off those turnovers. That was the game right there. Me as a leader, I can’t have 5 turnovers, that is just unacceptable, but we can correct it."

Westbrook added, "Obviously, they had lost 3 in a row and they should be desperate, we let them off the hook tonight, but it was a good win by them."

Patrick Beverley said, "Whatever unit that was out there had a defensive mindset to go out there and get stops, and tried to lead to some early offense, and that’s what happened today."

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