Capela's 28 points and Harden's heroics lead Rockets over Pelicans

Posted: December 11, 2017 -- 11:35 pm CST.

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- The Houston Rockets took the New Orleans best shot Monday night and still picked up the 10th-consecutive victory in an action-packed 130-123 victory. Clint Capela scored a career-high 28 points to lead the Rockets in scoring. Capela fed off the Pelicans' porous pick-and-roll defense and received lobs or bounce passes for dunks to make 13 of 14 field goal attempts. Many of the dunks came from James Harden. Harden handed out 17 assists to tie his career-high; and, Harden nailed two clutch three point baskets in the closing minutes to seal the game and finish with 26 points.

Eric Gordon scored 27 points and snapped out of a nine game shooting slump tonight. Gordon made 9 of 12 field goal attempts tonight. The previous nine games Gordon averaged 12.3 points per game on 33.0% field goal shooting.

Chris Paul added 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists.

For many parts of the game, the Pelicans were doing to the Rockets what the Rockets do and have done to numerous opponents the last two seasons: beat them from three-point range.

The Pelicans (14-14) shot 72.7% (16 for 22) including 7 for 9 from three-point shots in the first quarter. New Orleans outscored the Rockets 41-35 in the opening 12 minutes.

The Pelicans did not cool off from three in the second quarter. New Orleans made 7 more threes (out of 10 attempts) in the second quarter for an astounding 14 for 19 (73.7%) from three-point range in the first half.

New Orleans' E'Twuan Moore was a perfect 6 for 6 on three-point shots in the first half.

"They (the Pelicans) were shooting the ball so well that it was hard to leave them any kind of daylight whatsoever," Mike D'Antoni said after the game. "So, it says a lot about our offense: we can score even though those teams are scoring on us. But, you know we don't want to get in the habit of that."

The Rockets shot 10 for 24 on three-point attempts in the opening half; but, instead of relying on threes, the Rockets attacked the paint to outscore the Pelicans 34 to 20. Capela scored 18 points in the first half -- 14 points in the second quarter.

The Rockets led 78-76 at halftime.

After the torrid three-point shooting in the first half, both teams cooled off in the third quarter: the Rockets shot 2 for 8 from three in the third quarter while the Pelicans shot 3 for 10.

The Rockets (21-4) shot 8 for 21 overall in the third quarter and were outscored 27-18 and trailed 103-96 heading into the fourth quarter.

Chris Paul's heroics got the Rockets within seven. The Rockets trailed by 13 points (101-88) with 2:49 remaining in the quarter. Then, Paul worked over former Texas A&M Aggie Jalen Jones. Paul beat Jones off the dribble and finished with a flip shot. Next, Paul sank a three-point bucket off the dribble in front of Jones. Lastly, Paul beat the buzzer and nailed a three-point basket in front of Jones.

Paul opened the fourth quarter with a layup to pull the Rockets within five points (103-98).

As the Rockets' offense began to percolate in the fourth quarter, P.J. Tucker was pestering New Orleans big man DeMarcus Cousins on defense. In a five minute stretch, Cousins missed a six-foot jump shot and two driving layups as well as committed a turnover.

After the Pelicans' Rajon Rondo committed the Pelicans' 16th turnover, Capela tied the game at 112 with a dunk off a bounce pass from Harden.

E'Twaun Moore sank a short hook shot in the paint; but, Eric Gordon sank a corner three-point shot to give the Rockets a 115-114 lead with 5:13 left in the game.

New Orleans' Jrue Holiday sank a 15-foot pull up jump shot for a 116-115 Pelicans' lead; but, Capela dunked (once again from Harden) for a 117-116 Rockets' lead with 4:01 on the clock.

Rondo sank a three-point basket from the corner for a 119-117 Pelicans' lead; but, Harden tied the game at 119 when he made 2 of three free throw attempts.

After Cousins missed two foul shots, Harden scored 10 consecutive points: a driving layup; two three-point shots in front of Cousins; and two free throws to ice the game and the win for the Rockets.

After scoring 43 points in the first quarter, the Pelicans scored less points in each of the remaining three quarters than the previous quarter: 35 in the second; 27 points in the third; and 20 points in the fourth.

"They were dictating their tempo, the pace, and everything," James Harden said of the Pelicans' offense. "So, defensively, we had to get into them a little bit more; make their shots uncomfortable; make DeMarcus work a little bit harder. Give Tuck (P.J. Tucker) a little more credit. In that fourth quarter, he did a really good job of just being physical and getting DeMarcus a little bit tired.

"Offensively, we just got our shots."

The Rockets won tonight despite trailing by as many as 13 points and by seven heading into the fourth quarter. The Rockets improve to 5-3 in games this season in which they have trailed by double-digits and 4-3 when trailing after three quarters.

Dating back to last season, the Rockets are 36-1 when scoring 120 plus points (6-0 this season). Over the past 17 games (16-1 mark), Houston is averaging 120.1 points per game -- up from 104.3 ppg the first eight games of this season.

Capela's 28 points came in 24 minutes of play. The last Rockets player to have scored at least 28 points in 24 or fewer minutes was Eric "Sleepy" Floyd with 31 points in 24 minutes versus the Milwaukee Bucks January 21, 1992. Capela also had a career-high tying 5 blocked shots tonight. Dating back to the 1983-'84 season, the only other player to have at least 28 points and 5 blocks while playing 24 or fewer minutes was Arvydas Sabonis (31 points and 6 blocks in 24 minutes) for the Portland Trail Blazers at the Golden State Warriors April 6, 2001.

Harden's 26 points,17 assists, and 6 steals put him another exclusive club: dating back to the '83-'84 season, the only other players to post similar numbers in a single game were Michael Jordan (34/17/6) for the Chicago Bulls at Portland March 24, 1989; and John Stockton (26/24/6) for the Utah Jazz against the Rockets January 3, 1989. Also, Harden is the seventh player -- dating back to 1963-'64 -- to have scored at least 20 points in each of the first 25 games of a season and third player going back to the 1971-'72 season.

The Rockets continue this seven-game homestand with their next game Wednesday, December 13, versus the Charlotte Hornets. Tip is set for 8:30 p.m.

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