Harden’s defense seals series

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — James Harden couldn’t get his shot to fall all night, so the scorer turned stopper.

In this wild Game 7 that took one strange turn after another in the final seconds, the biggest play came when a guy known almost entirely for his offense turned up the defense.

Harden made up for a miserable shooting night with a big blocked shot, Russell Westbrook scored 20 points against his former team and the fourth-seeded Rockets edged the fifth-seeded Thunder 104-102 on Wednesday night to win the Western Conference first-round series.

“It was one of those nights offensively so I just wanted to change the game defensively and I think I did that,” Harden said.

The Rockets pulled out a tense final game of the first round that lasted long past the final basket as replays and fouls were sorted out.

In the end, the Rockets prevailed to set up a second-round matchup with the top-seeded Lakers that begins Friday despite Harden, the NBA’s leading scorer, going 4-for-15 from the field.

“These are the games, you want to win a (title) or win playoff games, you’ve got to do it with your heart,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said.

The frantic final seconds of a game that was tight throughout had the Rockets take the lead for good at 103-102 when P.J. Tucker scored with 1:25 remaining. After changes of possession, the Thunder got the ball to Lu Dort, who attempted a 3-pointer that Harden blocked with 4.8 seconds left.

Robert Covington made a free throw with 1.4 seconds to go and Harden was whistled for fouling Danilo Gallinari before the ball was inbounded, giving the Thunder one free throw and the ball. But Gallinari missed the free throw and the Thunder turned it over on the last inbounds pass.

Westbrook helped defend that, perhaps remembering some of his old coach’s plays.Harden finished with 17 points and nine assists.