Harden's 43 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds leads Rockets over Grizzlies, 113-101

Posted: December 31, 2018 -- 11:11 p.m.

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- James Harden gonna James Harden. Harden guided the Rockets to a 113-101 win over the Memphis Grizzlies Monday night. Harden scored 45 points, dished out 13 assists, and pulled down 10 rebounds for his fourth triple-double this season and the 10th 40-point triple-double of his career.

Here are more Harden superlatives:

• He has scored 40 or more points in each of the past four games after not having a streak longer than two games prior in his career.
• Tonight's performance is Harden's eighth straight game with at least 35 points and 5 assists, which is an NBA record. Over the past 22 games, he is averaging 36.3 points, including 40.8 ppg over the past 10.
• According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Harden is the third player over the past 30 seasons to have scored at least 400 points over a 10-game span, joining Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.
• Harden shot 21-of-27 from the line tonight which ties the franchise record for the most free throw attempts in a single game (Eric "Sleepy" Floyd vs. Golden State on February 3, 1991).
• The Rockets have played on New Year's Eve in each of the past three seasons. Harden has scored 40 or more points in each of those three games, averaging 45.3 points per game. Dating back to 2004-05, the rest of the NBA accounted for three 40-point games on New Year's Eve, including 42 by Tracy McGrady (Houston vs. Milwaukee in 2004).

Harden did have 9 turnovers in tonight's game; but, despite the turnovers, Harden says he's "probably" playing the best basketball of his career.

"I'm just being aggressive man; I'm just in attack mode," Harden said matter-of-fact. "They (the Grizzlies) tried to shake some things up tonight and run a double team at me and whatnot. I did a poor job of just not controlling the basketball, basically giving them transition points by turnovers. I have to take care of the ball more; but, just continue to be aggressive and make plays for my team."

The Rockets trailed the Grizzlies 6-1 early in the game; however, Gerald Green kick started the Rockets' offense with a three-point basket (Houston's first basket of the game) at the 7:44 mark of the opening period. Green knocked down 3 more three-point shots in the first quarter to help the Rockets lead 27-18 at the end of the period.

Houston made 9 field goals in the first quarter. Seven of the baskets were three-point shots.

Harden heated up in the second quarter and scored 20 points. Houston outscored the Grizzlies 34-20 in the second period and led 61-38 at halftime.

Houston led by as much as 24 points in the third quarter. The Rockets led 86-64 when Harden went to the bench with 2:28 remaining in the third quarter. The Rockets did not score the rest of the quarter while Memphis scored 9 straight points to trim the Rockets' lead to 86-73 after three quarters.

Memphis managed to get with 9 points (110-101) in the final 86 seconds of the game.

With the win tonight, the Rockets (21-15) take a 2-0 lead in the season series vs. Memphis and have won four straight against the Grizzlies. Houston closes out 2018 by winning 10 of its final 11 games, including a season-high tying five straight. Memphis has lost two in a row after winning two straight prior and drops to .500 (18-18) on the season.

"It's just one of those things. It's human nature," Mike D'Antoni, Rockets Head Coach said after the game. "It's natural. They (Memphis Grizzlies) didn't play very well the first half; and, we played really well. And, then it usually balances out a little bit; and, then the same thing happened in Memphis. We got the early lead; and, they came back, because they keep playing hard. They do a good job. You got two all-stars out there. We just have to pace ourselves and get over the hump the easy way and it turned out the hard way. It wasn't great going down the last couple quarters; but, we'll take the win and go onto the next year."

Gerald Green scored 18 points off the bench tonight -- all coming by way of six 3-pointers. The 18 points is Green's second-highest point total of the season and his season-high for 3-point field goals made. The Rockets improve to 10-2 when Green scores 10 or more points this season. He has hit 2 or more threes in 10 of the past 16 games after doing so six times over his first 16 games played.

"It felt pretty good, seeing the first one go in," Green said of his hot three-point shooting tonight. "So, I was just trying to be aggressive."

Green also commented on Harden's sensational performances.

"It's unbelievable what he's doing," said Green. "Guarding, making plays off the dribble, (and) making plays, just scoring from all over. Leading, you know, he's making sure guys get extra work in after practice. Making sure guys are focused on pregame. He does a lot of little things you probably don't see on camera; but, the way he's playing right now, we really need that for now and until the end of the season."

Houston (21-15) has won 10 of its past 11 games overall and improves to 9-0 at Toyota Center in December.

"We're winning some games; but, they haven't been perfect," P.J. Tucker said after the game. "None of them are pretty, you know, we will take them. Wins are wins. We are still not at the level we want to be at. Get Chris (Paul) and Eric (Gordon) healthy and get everybody back and James (Ennis) as well. So we're kind of building up."

NOTES:

Houston finishes December 9-0 at home. Since losing the first four games of the season at home, the Rockets have gone 13-1 at Toyota Center. Houston outscored opponents by an average of 10.9 points at home for the month.

The Rockets hit 18 3-pointers tonight and 13 shots inside-the-arc. It's the second time over the past six games (at Miami on December 20, 2018) that Houston has recorded 18 or more threes and 13 or fewer 2-pointers. That has only been done one other time in NBA history: New York at Miami on January 27, 2012.

NEXT:

The Rockets' next game is Thursday, January 3, at Golden State. Tip is set for 9:30 p.m.

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