The Oklahoma City Thunder trailed the Houston Rockets 68-52 at halftime, but it could have been even worse if it weren’t for that three-guard closing lineup.
Houston took a 58-37 lead with 3:50 to go in the half, but Oklahoma City scored the next nine points and cut that 21-point lead down to 13 before James Harden got a layup with an and-one with less than 10 seconds to go.
Harden finished the half with 15 points on 4-for-7 shooting, two made 3-pointers and five free throws.
The Thunder countered best with their bigs. Steven Adams, who NBA on TNT analyst Charles Barkley said could average 20/20, had seven points and six rebounds over his first 10 minutes of play. He finished the half with 10 points and six boards.
Danilo Gallinari led both teams with 18 points. He made five of seven field goals and went 7-for-7 from the free throw line.
Chris Paul, who had nine points, five rebounds and three assists, had five of his points in the final three minutes.
Dennis Schroder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander combined for six points in 18 minutes apiece.
Terrance Ferguson got the start in place of the injured Lu Dort but only played four minutes.
Andre Roberson played three minutes but struggled to guard James Harden. He bumped Harden’s knee with his own on a 3-point shot but no foul was called; Harden, realizing how hard Roberson came at him, drew a foul on a 3-pointer not long after. Roberson also got beat rather easily off the dribble by the star guard.
Those free throws and 3-pointers allowed the Rockets to build a big lead. They were 13-for-15 from the free throw line and attempted 25 3-pointers, nine more than the Thunder did.
Houston didn’t just take a lot of 3s — they made them at a 44% clip. Oklahoma City went 5-for-16 from deep while Houston was 11-for-25.
Rockets guard Eric Gordon had 16 points while forward Jeff Green had 13 points and was a plus-20 in 16 minutes of play.
