Harden and Lin combine to guide Houston Rockets over Philadelphia 76ers: NBA Recap
Philadelphia coach Doug Collins knew it won’t be an easy task for the 76ers at Houston with both Jeremy Lin and James Harden in their groove off late.
Talking about James Harden before the game, he had said;
"To me, when he's coming down the floor, he's very similar to LeBron James, he combines size, strength and shooting, and he loves to make contact."
The ‘Bearded One’ was on fire indeed, right from the word go, and finished off with 33 points and 7 assists for the Rockets. Jeremy Lin had 18 points and 6 assists while Omer Asik posted a double-double with 17 points and 15 rebounds
as Houston Rockets cruised past the Philadelphia 76ers 125-103 here at the Toyota Center Wednesday night.
"We were both just playing off of each other. ... We were in a good rhythm today for sure. He attacked and I attacked, and that's how we like it." Lin on his chemistry with Harden. These two have combined together this year to
become a force to reckon with on the offensive end of the court.
Harden started the proceedings with a free throw as Houston went in front and never surrendered their lead throughout. Such was the dominance of Houston that the score was not tied even once. Asik made a layup to put the Rockets
up 15-6 early in the first period. Lin made two back to back layups to push their lead to 21-11 as the Rockets kept on pulling ahead.
James Harden made a buzzer beating jumper to have them leading 33-24 by the end of the first quarter.
Sixers started slashing the deficit in the second period and had cut the gap down to 34-35. But it was the closest they got as Rockets raced away and led by 56-51 at halftime. The 76ers kept it close early in the second half; Dorell Wright nailed a three
pointer to make it 58-64, and start a push which made it 75-77 deep. That was the point when the Rockets started pulling ahead and led by 89-79 going into the final quarter.
Toney Douglas nailed a three pointer early in the final quarter to put the Rockets up by 96-82. Rather than going easy down the stretch, Rockets upped the pressure and finally ended on 125-103.
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