Boracay Island, Philippines – James Harden exploded for 44 points, including 6 three-pointers, to help the Rockets thwart the Indiana Pacers 111-102 on Friday night (Saturday morning, Philippine time) at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
The former league MVP also shot 12-for-14 from the charity stripe and had 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and four steals to stretch Houston’s winning streak to six. Ben McLemore and Russell Westbrook added 21 and 17 markers, respectively.
Thirty-seven-year-old Tyson Chandler started at center for the Rockets in place of the injured Clint Capela, who sustained a concussion in their previous outing.
Interestingly, Indiana had balanced scoring with 24 assists as a team, doubling Houston’s total of 12. The Pacers even shot better from the field at 45.1%, compared to the Rocket’s 40.4% accuracy.
The deciding factor, however, apart from Harden’s unstoppable scoring, was the discrepancy in the connected threes. Houston buried 14 from deep, while Indiana only sank 8 of them.
The Rockets, who improved to 9 wins against 3 losses, will next face the Timberwolves in Minnesota on Saturday night (Sunday morning, Philippine time).
Meanwhile, the Pacers, who dropped to a 7-5 win-loss card, will host the Milwaukee Bucks in Indiana on the same date.
How they scored:
Rockets 111 – Harden 44, McLemore 21, Westbrook 17, Rivers 10, Tucker 5, Sefolosha 5, Hartenstein 4, Clemons 3, Chandler 2
Pacers 102 – Sabonis 18, McDermott 18, A. Holiday 12, Leaf 12, McConnell 12, J. Holiday 10, Warren 8, Bitadze 6, Sampson 4, Brogdon 2
AROUND THE LEAGUE:
(Road Team – Home Team)
DET 106 – 109 CHA
SAS 109 – 111 ORL
PHI 119 – 127 OKC (OT)
UTAH 106 – 107 MEM
WSH 137 – 116 MIN
BOS 105 – 100 GSW
SAC 97 – 99 LAL
GAMES TODAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2019 CT:
BKN @ CHI 7:00 AM CT
MIL @ IND 8:00 AM CT
CHA @ NYK 8:30 AM CT
HOU @ MIN 9:00 AM CT
NOP @ MIA 9:00 AM CT
TOR @ DAL 9:30 AM CT
POR @ SAS 9:30 AM CT
ATL @ LAC 11:30 AM CT
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