Harden and Westbrook combine for 64 points in Rockets' 132-108 win over Portland

Posted: November 18, 2019 -- 11:56 p.m. CT

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- James Harden and Russell Westbrook put on quite a show Monday night in the Houston Rockets' 132-108 trouncing of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Harden scored 36 points on 11 for 19 field goal shooting and added 6 rebounds and 5 assists while Westbrook scored 28 points (9 for 26 field goals); pulled down 13 rebounds; and dished out 10 assists for the 141st triple-double of his NBA career.

"It's a pretty good one-two punch," Mike D'Antoni, Rockets' Head Coach said after the game.

Rockets' center Clint Capela return to action Monday night after missing the last two games with concussion-like symptoms. Capela scored a season-high 22 points and pulled down 20 rebounds. Capela has grabbed 20 rebounds in each of his last four games played.

Houston trailed Portland 30-29 at the end of the 1st period. Early in the second period, Rockets' center Isaiah Hartenstein made two foul shots to put the Rockets ahead 33-32 with 10:47 remaining in the quarter. Houston never trailed the rest of the ball game.

Portland shot 11 for 25 in the first quarter; however, Houston's defense limited Portland to 29 for 75 field goal shooting the rest of the ball game.

"Defensively, I think we've been pretty good," Harden said after the game. "In that first quarter, we gave up 30 points. (In the) Second quarter, we limited it to 20 (points); and, then we just continued to get better, and that's going to be the key for us."

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Houston led 72-52 at the 10:58 mark of the third quarter. Portland went on a 12-3 run to get within 11 points; however, Westbrook went into attack mode which helped the Rockets lead by as much as 24 points in the third stanza. Westbrook had 9 points and 4 assists in the third which helped Houston win the quarter 35-26.

"That's what he does, man," Harden said of Westbrook. "He can change the game at any moment; and, that's why he's so special."

Portland (5-9) did not get closer than 17 points in the final 12 minutes of the game while Houston (10-3) led by as much as 28 points in the fourth.

"They're a really good team," Terry Stotts, Portland Head Coach said of the Rockets. "They kind of did what they usually do. They shot threes. Harden scored. Westbrook had a triple double. They got out in transition. The thing that was probably the most disappointing was their offensive rebounding and how well they converted their offensive rebounds into points. I thought that was kind of the difference in the first half. We just couldn't cut into their lead."

Houston outrebounded Portland 58-44 in the ball game and outscored Portland 58-46 in the paint.

James Harden's 36 points Monday night marks his eighth straight game scoring 36 or more points in a game which ties for the longest streak of his career (January 9 to January 23, 2019). Harden also had a 7-game streak of scoring 36+ last season from December 22, 2018 to January 5, 2019. No other player has had a streak longer than six games doing so since a 9-game span by Kobe Bryant from February 6 to February 23, 2009.

After the game, Westbrook wants people to appreciate what Harden is accomplishing with his spectacular offense.

"I think that a lot of people like to normalize greatness when you see it over and over again," Westbrook commented. "But, it's not normal because there's nobody else that can do it. If it was normal, everybody would do it. He's put himself in position to be able to be one of the best offensive scorers of all time because of the way he's able to score the ball at a high level (in a) variety (of) difference ways. So, it's amazing. I'm just here to be able to help him along the way."

The Rockets next game is at Denver on Wednesday, November 20, at 8 p.m.

NOTES:

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last Rocket to have 20 or more rebounds in four straight games played was Elvin Hayes from January 9 to January 19, 1971. Houston has won 14 straight games when Capela scores 20+ points dating back to December of last season.

The Rockets have outscored the opposition by an average of 15.4 points over the past seven games after not having a win by more than seven points over the first seven games of the season.

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