Harden scores 48, Eric Gordon scores 30; Rockets beat Lakers in OT

Posted: January 20, 2019 -- 8:39 a.m.

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- The Houston Rockets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 138-134 in overtime Saturday night. Eric Gordon delivered two clutch three-point shots in the final seconds of the fourth quarter. Gordon's second three-pointer in the 4th happened tied the game and sent the game to overtime.

"I was just trying to shoot that thing with confidence. I saw K.C.P. (Lakers' guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope) running out to me and I thought he was going to fly right by me, but he stood right there, so I had to try to shoot it with confidence and I'm glad it went in."

Gordon scored 30 in the game and helped James Harden carry the scoring load. Harden scored 48 points to extend his sensational streak of scoring 30 or more points to 19 consecutive games. That is the longest streak by a player not named Wilt Chamberlain. Harden is averaging 40.3 points over the past 22 games. That is tied for the fourth-longest span of games averaging 40 plus+ points in NBA history according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Harden has scored 40 plus points in 10 of the past 13 games and 16 times in 42 games played this season. The last player to score 40 or more points at least 16 times within their first 42 games played in a season was Michael Jordan with 22 in 1986-87.

Houston (26-19) trailed the Lakers (25-22) 64-46 at halftime. Houston shot 8-33 from 3 in the first half and were out-rebounded by 14. The Lakers also had 40 paint points in the 1st half.

"Words don't do it," said Rockets Head Coach Mike D'Antoni regarding anything he said to his team when they trailed big. "That was just our guys showing a lot of heart, down 20 at one point and we picked up. We got into them; and, I thought some keys – where like PJ (Tucker) got into (Kyle) Kuzma, that's key. Obviously, James (Harden) is key all the time and Eric Gordon, he was phenomenal. What I liked about, just the spirit they won and how hard they played – (we) got a win."

Kuzma scored 20 points in the first quarter. He scored 12 points the rest of the game.

"Yeah, we just fought," Harden said after the game. "Yeah, we were down, by I think 18 or 20 (points) at half; and, we just continued to fight, man. That's what we have been doing. We haven't had any consistency in our lineups, injury bug or what not; but, that's not an excuse. We still, every night, got to go out there and compete in the first half. They dictated the game; they did whatever they wanted to do. That second half we picked it up, defensively we picked up our pressure, and offensively we were in attack mode. Again, some shots fell that we got in the first half; but, it's a part of the game of basketball."

Harden continued, "If we play hard like that, like we did in the second half from the beginning of the game, then we wouldn't put ourselves in deep holes like that. Instead of being down 18 (points), we might be up eight or 10 with those same quality shots. We're living with those shots, first half we missed them, second half we made them; but, our defense has to be there."

NOTES:

The Rockets hit 25 3-pointers on 68 attempts tonight. Houston had an NBA record 70 three-point attempts vs. Brooklyn on January 16th. The Rockets hold the only other game with 60 or more three-point attempts in NBA history (61 vs. New Orleans on December 16, 2016). The 25 three-point baskets are tied for the second-most in NBA history. The Rockets set the record with 26 threes made vs. Washington on December 19, 2018. Houston has hit 20 or more threes in five of the past nine games and nine times overall this season. The Rockets hit 20 or more threes an NBA single season record 10 times in 2016-17. This was the 45th game of the season; no other franchise in NBA history has hit 20 plus threes more than seven times in an entire season.

NEXT:

The Rockets' next game is Monday, January 21, against the Philadelphia 76ers. Tip is set for 6 p.m., on TNT.

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