Harden has triple-double, Rockets hold off Cavs 117-113

HOUSTON — James Harden was quick to say yes when asked if he’s playing at as high of a level as he ever has.

The follow up question of why wasn’t quite as easy for Houston’s bearded star.

“I don’t know,” he said before letting out an awkward laugh and looking around before continuing. “Work. Try to study the game and get better. Listen to people around me that push me and motivate me and try to be the best I can be. It’s pretty simple.”

Harden had a tripledouble of 35 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists to help the Rockets beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 117-113 on Thursday night.

Harden also had five steals and a block as Houston extended its winning streak to four games.

LeBron James had 33 points for the Cavaliers, and Jeff Green added 27.

Houston led by seven after a layup by James with about 10 minutes left. The Rockets scored the next six points, capped by a 3-pointer by P.J. Tucker to make it 111-98. The Cavaliers used a 13-1 run, with five points from James, to cut the lead to 112111 with 90 seconds left.

Harden missed a layup after that, but grabbed a rebound and threw an alley-oop to Clint Capela, who finished for Houston’s first basket since Tucker’s 3. He was fouled on the play and made the free throw to make it 115-11 with just over a minute remaining.

James made a layup on the other end, but Capela made another basket after a grabbing the rebound on a miss by Harden to put Houston back up by 4 with 10.7 seconds left.

Capela, who finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks, blocked a shot by James in the final seconds to secure the win.

“We expect him to do that,” coach Mike D’Antoni said about Capela’s solid performance. “He’s 23 years old. There’s no reason why he can’t keep getting better.”

The Cavaliers have lost six of their last eight games, leaving James to answer question about why they’re struggling.

“We played a pretty good game, but I’m not here for moral victories,” he said. “That’s not what I’m about.”

Harden has scored 30 or more points in three of the last four games, highlighted by a 56-point performance in a win over the Jazz on Sunday. It’s the second triple-double of the season for Harden and the 33rd of his career.

“I thought our guys really scrapped and competed,” Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue said. “But Harden was Harden. He made some tough, contested 3s off the dribble, which we wanted. We contested all of them, but he made some big shots.”

The Rockets made the first seven points of the second half thanks to a three-pointer by Eric Gordon and a four-point play by Trevor Ariza to take a 72-67 lead.

Cleveland got going soon after that and a layup by Iman Shumpert got the Cavaliers within 1 point soon after that. But Harden made two 3-pointers to power an 8-2 run that extended Houston’s lead to 8174 lead with about 7 1/ 2 minutes left in the quarter.

The Cavaliers scored five quick points, capped by a 3-pointer by Green, to tie it at 87-87 about three minutes later. A 3-point play by Gordon put Houston back on top and the Rockets had extended their lead to 100-93 entering the fourth quarter. AP