James Harden had 42 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists on Saturday night as the Houston Rockets won their third straight game with a 117-94 romp in Chicago (complete box score).
Starting center Clint Capela contributed season highs in rebounds (20) and minutes (42) as the Rockets (6-3) outscored the Bulls (3-7) by 22 points in the second half after leading by just one at halftime. By margin, it was Houston’s biggest win yet in the 2019-20 NBA season.
Sparked by Capela’s presence inside, the victory was the first time all season for Houston to hold an opponent below 100 points in a game. With backup center Tyson Chandler not playing at all, Capela also had 16 points on 70% shooting and four blocked shots.
Fittingly, Harden and Capela led the Rockets for the game with plus/minus figures of +36 and +35, respectively.
Chicago made just four of its 32 three-point attempts (12.5%), while the Rockets connected on 19 of their 44 tries (43.2%). Harden led the way and stayed hot by hitting nine of his 19 attempts (47.4%), but wings Danuel House Jr. and Eric Gordon also had key contributions by going a combined 6-of-12 (50%) on three-pointers.
Gordon returned to head coach Mike D’Antoni‘s rotation after a one-game injury absence, but House kept his starting small forward spot.
Russell Westbrook scored 26 points (10-of-20 shooting) and also had seven rebounds in his 32 minutes, though he also had seven of an uncharacteristic 22 team turnovers for the Rockets. Before Saturday’s somewhat sloppy performance, Houston averaged just 15.6 total turnovers per game — ranking in the top half of the NBA.
The Rockets return to action Monday night in New Orleans in search of their fourth straight victory. The Pelicans improved to 2-7 with a 115-110 road win at Charlotte on Saturday.
