An NBA record eleventh time this season, the Houston Rockets made 15 three pointers and the mix of the long distance and a dominating first quarter helped the Rockets defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 112-101.
James Harden flirted with a triple-double when he scored 31 points, handed out 10 assists and grabbed 9 rebounds to lead the Rockets to a victory. 6 Rockets in total scored in double figures on the night with Trevor Ariza scoring 17 points and Donatas Motiejunas dropping 14 on the night. Patrick Beverley and Dwight Howard dropped 13 points each with Howard grabbing 8 rebounds for Houston. Josh Smith came off the bench to score 13 points and grab 7 rebounds.
Kevin Durant dropped 24 points on the night to lead the Thunder and he also grabbed 10 rebounds for them. Russell Westbrook also toyed with a triple-double as he scored 16 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and handed out 8 assists to go along with 5 steals. Serge Ibaka dropped 13 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. Reggie Jackson scored 16 points with 6 assists and 6 rebounds while Dion Waiters scored 16 of his own points as both players came off the bench.
The Rockets scored a season-high 40 first quarter points and never looked back from that point. They held a 10-13 point lead throughout the whole game.
Towards the end of the game, some rumors began to surface of another possible 3-team deal involving the Oklahoma City Thunder acquiring a big time big man.
Oklahoma City Thunder are 18-20. Houston Rockets are 28-12.
