James Harden carries Houston Rockets to a 100-96 victory over New Orleans Hornets: NBA Recap
James Harden dropped 30 points, Omer Asik added a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds as Houston Rockets defeated the New Orleans Hornets 100-96 after surviving a late rally on Wednesday night.
Rockets crushed the Hornets in the second quarter as they outscored them by 21 points and then held off a late charge by an inspired Hornets side in the second half, to win their fourth game of the season.
Rockets should have been cruising to victory after they had carved out a 19 point advantage by half time. But, the charged Hornets came back hard on them in the second half and gave Rockets a run for their money. They started the
game well going 7-2 up early. Later on, a Greivis Vasquez jump shot had the New Orleans up 17-8 before the “bearded one” nailed a three pointer and followed it up with a jumper as the Rockets went on a 7-0 run that cut the deficit down to
15-17.
The Hornets responded by taking the next 5 points, but Houston fought back and Harden levelled the score on 25 when he sank a layup. That was followed by a Brian Roberts’s jump shot for the Hornets, who ended the period leading
27-25.
Greg Smith wasted less than 11 seconds in the second period to tie the score again. Two free throws by Chandler Parsons put the Rockets up 35-31, as they started pulling ahead. A total of 19 points were scored in the next 2 minutes,
a part of the scoring frenzy that included five 3 pointers, including three by Toney Douglas alone, that put Rockets up by 47-38.
A Harden layup opened up a 10 point lead on 50-40 for the Rockets, who extended their advantage in the later part of the period and Marcus Morris sunk in a buzzer beating 3 pointer, as they headed into the second half leading 64-45.
Harden made a layup in the early going of the third period to put the Rockets up by 72-51, their highest lead of the game. The Hornets then went on rampage. They upped their defence and went for an 11-0 run to slash the deficit
down to 62-72. Hornets, sensing a comeback, made it a 6-point game when Ryan Anderson made a layup which left them trailing by just 76-82. A Douglas shot from downtown had the Rockets up 85-76 by the end of the period.
Alarm bells started ringing for the Houston as the Hornets cut the deficit down to 85-89 five minutes into the final quarter. Rockets managed to pull ahead 98-88 after a Parsons three-point shot, but the Hornets were close on their
heels. Vasquez sunk in a three pointer to make it 96-98 with only 1:49 in the regulation and at that point it was anybody’s game.
Parsons scored a deuce to put Houston up by100-96 on the next possession and they then defended well in the closing moments to win the game.
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