The Cavaliers went on a 24-0 run in Wednesday’s second half to lead by 11 points, but James Harden rescued the Rockets with 20 points in the fourth quarter to lead Houston to a 116-110 win in Cleveland (box score).
It was a badly needed victory for the Rockets (16-8), who entered coming off a buzzer-beating loss and were missing two rotation players in guard Austin Rivers and center Tyson Chandler due to illness.
Harden had 55 points and eight assists for the game on 20-of-34 shooting (58.8%), including 10-of-18 (55.6%) on three-pointers — which tied the former MVP’s career high for made treys in a single game. The Cavs were the first opponent in weeks not to regularly double team Harden, and the NBA’s leading scorer certainly made them pay.
The 24-0 run gave Cleveland (5-19) a 99-88 lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Rockets finished the game on a 28-11 over the final eight minutes to secure the win.
Harden, who leads the league in both overall scoring and free-throw attempts, scored his 55 on Wednesday on just five foul shots. In NBA history, only Rick Barry — who played over 40 seasons ago — had scored more points in one game while attempting five or fewer free throws.
Harden finished six points short of his career-best total of 61.
Other standouts for Houston included Russell Westbrook, with 23 points (45% shooting), seven rebounds, six assists, and four steals; Clint Capela, with 10 points and a team-high 13 rebounds; and P.J. Tucker, who hit a dagger three-pointer in the final 40 seconds to effectively ice the game. Appropriately, Tucker’s corner three came off an assist from Harden.
The Cavs were led by a career-high 24 points off the bench from rookie guard Kevin Porter Jr., who made 9-of-15 shots (60.0%) overall and 6-of-9 (66.7%) on three-pointers. Entering Wednesday, the University of Southern California (USC) product was shooting just 26.0% from behind the three-point arc this season.
In postgame comments, Houston head coach Mike D’Antoni praised his team’s defense down the stretch of the fourth quarter as they took command, but was critical of their effort in various stretches beforehand.
The Rockets return to play Friday in Orlando (11-13) as they wrap up a two-game road trip. Shortly after that game, they will catch a flight back to Houston for a Saturday night home game versus Detroit (10-14).
D’Antoni said postgame Wednesday that he believed the 31-year-old Westbrook was scheduled to miss one game of this weekend’s back-to-back, as he has in all back-to-backs so far this season coming off offseason knee surgery. However, D’Antoni clarified that he did not know for sure and did not specify which game it might be.
