James Harden on Thursday delivered his seventh career 50-point, 10-assist performance as the Houston Rockets edged the Miami Heat 121-118.
With Harden in a three-point shooting slump over the past few games, the Rockets have been depending on their reserves to help get the job done, but Harden reasserted himself in front of a home crowd of 18,100, finishing with 58 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds on a night when the Rockets had to once again tinker with their roster because of injuries.
“I wanted to be aggressive and continue to attack the rim,” Harden said.
Photo: Troy Taormina, USA Today
He got some help down the stretch from Austin Rivers (17 points) and Chris Paul, whose jumper with 46 seconds left followed a failed Harden three-pointer and extended the lead to three.
Coming into the game, Harden was just 3-31 from beyond the arc in his previous three games.
Harden has three 50-point, 10-assist games this season.
“We get the stat sheet at the end of the game and I saw he had 58,” Rivers said. “All of us were like: ‘He had that many points?’ We had no idea he had that many points. That’s a lot of points.”
Miami had seven players score in the double figures with Goran Dragic and Kelly Olynyk scoring 21 points apiece.
The Heat shot 51.9 percent overall, but went cold at the wrong time, posting only 20 points on 6-17 shooting in the final period.
“We were lackadaisical on defense, especially in that second quarter,” Harden said. “They gained confidence and knocked down shots. They were just too comfortable, so we had to pick the pressure up in the second half, create some turnovers and energy with our defense.”
Elsewhere, Aaron Gordon tallied 22 points and 15 rebounds as the Orlando Magic snapped an 11-game losing streak to beat the Golden State Warriors 103-96.
The Warriors blew an 11-point lead en route to losing their second game in as many nights.
Terrence Ross scored 16 points and D.J. Augustin got 14, while Nikola Vucevic had 12 points and 13 rebounds to help Orlando beat the Warriors for the first time since December 2012.
Stephen Curry scored 33 points, and Klay Thompson and DeMarcus Cousins each had 21 for the Warriors, who rested Kevin Durant and ended up paying for it.
Curry sank only one basket in the fourth quarter.
“Considering the way we finished the third quarter, we were pretty much in control of the game,” Curry said. “But we missed a lot of shots and didn’t get any stops, so it’s a frustrating way to end. This is a tough one.”
The Magic shot just 5-23 from the field in the third quarter and trailed 81-70 going into the fourth.
Elsewhere on Thursday, it was:
‧ Cavaliers 125, Knicks 118
‧ Pacers 122, T’wolves 115
‧ 76ers 108, Thunder 104
‧ Jazz 111, Nuggets 104
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS