Harden’s 58 ignites huge comeback for Rockets

HOUSTON — After scoring 58 points, James Harden pointed to the Houston Rockets’ defense and team effort.

Harden also had 10 assists and seven rebounds as the Rockets overcame a 21-point third-quarter deficit to beat the Miami Heat 121118 on Thursday night.

“We were lackadaisical on defense, especially in that second quarter,” Harden said.

“They gained confidence and knocked down shots. They were just too comfortable, so we had to pick up the pressure in the second half, create some turnovers and energy with our defense.”

He fell three points short of his career high set at New York on Jan 23, and had the most points ever against the Heat — breaking Willie Burton’s mark of 53 for Philadelphia on Dec 13, 1994.

“We get the stat sheet at the end of the game and I saw he had 58,” said Rockets guard Austin Rivers. “All of us were like, ‘He had that many points?’ We had no idea he had that many. That’s a lot of points. He was incredible.”

Harden made 8 of 18 3-pointers and was 16 of 32 overall from the field and 18 of 18 on free throws.

“I wanted to be aggressive and continue to attack the rim,” Harden said. “I took my shots when I had the opportunities, and not only myself, but Austin (Rivers), Gary (Clark), Chris (Paul) made some plays down the stretch. It was a total team effort tonight.”

Rivers scored 17 points and Paul and Clark each had 14 to help Houston win its fourth straight game. The Rockets shot 49 percent, including 19 of 46 on 3-pointers.

Houston held Miami to 20 points in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Heat by 15 in the decisive period.

“I think it was a really big win for us,” Houston coach Mike D’Antoni said.

“Just for a lot of reasons — spiritwise, we did it the right way. We got into them defensively. This is a character win, and when you get in the playoffs, that’s what counts.”

Kelly Olynyk and Goran Dragic each had 21 points for Miami, Justise Winslow added 19 points and eight assists and Josh Richardson had 18 points. The Heat shot 52 percent, making 15 of 28 3-pointers.

“We were in the driver’s seat and had an opportunity to close it out and really buckle down defensively, and then we started to foul,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said.

“We had a double-digit lead, then all of a sudden you look up and they were right there. That was probably more deflating than anything.”