Harden has league-record 7 40-point triple-doubles
DENVER — With the game on the line, the Rockets missed.
There could have been no more fitting way to win Saturday night.
The Rockets could not win with waves of 3-pointers. They could not win by lighting up the scoreboard. They could not win the way they usually win.
They found another way, which might have been more important.
They had spent the night searching for ways to make up for their missing shooting touch, leaning heavily on James Harden, living at the free-throw line and finally leaving Denver with a 109-105 win taken the hard way.
“That’s what you have to do,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We have to compete. We have to get into a fight. That’s what we did. Really, back-to-back, against a team playing really well, really good.
“I thought it was a great game, both sides. Everybody competed. Nobody was sharp, shooting 3s and stuff. But gutted it out. Some nights, you have to do that.”
The Rockets were 5-of-24 on 3-pointers, their fewest made and attempted for the season. But they scored 60 points in the paint and 28 at the line to make up for the part of their offense that was missing. Lots of misfiring
“This had to be one of our worst shooting nights of the season 3-point wise,” forward Ryan Anderson said. “We were resilient. We fought back, answered their runs. This was a big win for us to just play solid through the missed shots.”
Harden had 40 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, giving him four consecutive triple-doubles, the longest streak of his career, and an NBA-record seven 40-point tripledoubles this season.
Asked if he felt drained after getting 40-point tripledoubles on consecutive nights, particularly as other stars take off games in backto-backs, Harden said: “Drained? What’s that?
“I just took whatever they gave me, whether it’s shooting a 3 or taking it to the basket and creating.
“Kind of woke up in that second half. First half, they were kind of getting where they wanted to go. Second half, we locked down, played harder and offensively we got it going and defensively got the stops we needed.”
Harden took over in the third quarter, scoring 18 points when the Rockets abandoned their plan to move the ball to 3-pointers, as they had in their win in Denver in December and looked to attack.
“He reads the game,” D’Antoni said. “He’s trying to find some energy after going 38 (minutes) and getting a 40 and a tripledouble last night and 40 and a triple-double tonight. It’s incredible. He’s been incredible for us.”
In the final minutes, however, Harden missed his final three shots. Instead, the Rockets got the stops they needed before closing out the win at the free-throw line.
That was enough to make the Rockets’ eightpoint, fourth-quarter lead, their largest of the game, hold up.
When Harden drained a 3-pointer with 4:43 remaining, it was just the Rockets’ fifth of the game, but it gave them a sevenpoint lead. That basket made Harden 3-of-8 from deep, but rest of the Rockets were 2-of-16.
The Nuggets showed how much the Rockets missed their usual 3-point shooting. Nikola Jokic and Jameer Nelson put in 3s to keep the Nuggets within two points heading into the last three minutes. Scramble to the end
Harden put in a floater and Nene dunked home a Harden miss, pushing the Rockets’ lead to six, but with a Will Barton free throw and a Jokic putback, the Rockets called a timeout with 1:18 left, leading by just three.
Harden twice missed fadeaway jumpers and Lou Williams missed a 3, but Nene grabbed the rebound and was fouled, putting the Rockets in front 107-105 with 41.8 seconds left.
The Rockets did not get a shot to fall, but they didn’t need to, having spent the night finding another way.
When Gary Harris missed on a Eurostep drive, the Rockets had their win the hard way.
“It was very important we win this game tonight,” said Nene, who had 14 points off the bench. “We came from a loss. We had to play the right way.
“We’re all professionals here. We don’t have just shooters. You just got to play the game.
“You have to adapt to the game.”
The Rockets did what had to be done, finding beauty in winning a way that was anything but.