James Harden on Wednesday night did everything he could to bring the Houston Rockets back from a massive deficit in the fourth quarter.
He got them to overtime, but his 57 points were not enough — all because of a last-second free throw.
Mike Conley scored 35 points and Jonas Valanciunas had a career-best 33, including the game-winning free throw with less than one second left, as the Memphis Grizzlies outlasted the Houston Rockets 126-125.
“We put ourselves in a hole and tried to pick it up, but it was too late,” Harden said. “We were down [17], so I had to do something.”
Harden led a 17-2 Houston rally in the fourth — scoring 15 points in that stretch — to pull the Rockets to 106-104. He hit three free throws with four seconds remaining to send the game to overtime tied at 115-115.
Harden scored all 10 points for Houston in overtime and the teams were still tied at 125-125 when Clint Capela fouled Valanciunas with 0.1 seconds left.
Valanciunas, who also had 15 rebounds, made the first of two free throws. The clock ran out after he missed the second foul shot.
Chris Paul had 18 points and seven assists for Houston, who had won three straight. Capela added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The loss was only Houston’s second in the past 14 games.
“It was one of those games. Every once in a while it crops up,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said.
“You’ve got to go on. It’s too bad, but we just kind of threw that away,” he said.
Memphis dominated the game through more than three quarters until the Harden-led comeback.
Conley made all six of his shots, including a quartet of treys, in the first quarter. Valanciunas made all nine of his shots in the first half.
However, despite the double-digit lead into the fourth, the Grizzlies had to weather Harden’s 28 points after the third quarter.
“It got crazy there for a little bit,” Conley said. “That was a fun game. It’s the kind of game you want to be a part of — big plays, big opportunities for everybody. The way it ended was wild.”
“I’m just happy we got away with a win,” he added.
In other games on Wednesday, the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 107-102, the Philadelphia 76ers edged the Boston Celtics 118-115, the Orlando Magic crushed the New Orleans Pelicans 119-96 and the Utah Jazz dominated the New York Knicks 137-116.
Elsewhere, the Chicago Bulls outlasted the Washington Wizards 126-120, the Miami Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs 110-105, the Toronto Raptors overpowered the Oklahoma City Thunder 123-114 and the Portland Trail Blazers outlasted the Dallas Mavericks 126-118.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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