Bounce back on a grand scale
Harden becomes seventh-youngest to reach 20,000 career points during blowout victory
Rockets center Isaiah Hartenstein collected a lob from Russell Westbrook, slammed the ball and while swinging on the rim managed a finger point to Westbrook in appreciation in the fourth quarter Saturday — an exclamation mark on a Rockets exhale following a punch to the gut.
“We started a little slow, but we picked it up as the game progressed,” Westbrook said.
Despite the sluggish start that seemed a carryover from their previous two games, the Rockets overwhelmed the Minnesota Timberwolves 139-109 at Toyota Center. The 30-point margin marked their second largest win of the season, behind a 47-point home whipping of Atlanta on Nov. 30.
“Once our offense got going, we kind of blew the game open,” Rockets guard James Harden said.
Nearly midway through the second quarter, Harden had as many rebounds as points, with four each. Then the star sprang to life — and so did the Rockets.
“We struggled early and weren’t sharp, but they fought through it,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said.
The Rockets rebounded from a 21-point loss at Oklahoma City on Thursday. Harden against the Timberwolves finished with a game-high 32 points, sinking 6-of-11 3-pointers, in bouncing back from a couple of subpar games at Atlanta and Oklahoma City. Westbrook followed with 30 points, and no one from Minnesota scored more than 16.
A Harden 3-pointer lifting the Rockets to a 42-27 lead with 6:30 remaining in the first half also gave him 20,000 career points, in becoming the 45th NBA player to reach that milestone.
“It’s a great accomplishment, obviously,” said Harden, who didn’t play the fourth quarter. “I have a bigger picture and bigger goals. But it’s pretty cool.”
Harden, 30, is the seventh youngest player to reach 20,000 points. Westbrook, acquired in a trade in the offseason from Oklahoma City, said he was proud of his teammate.
“That’s a blessing to do that on a very high level,” Westbrook said of Harden reaching 20,000. “It’s something you don’t take for granted. And to me, it’s just a blessing to be able to see. As a friend, I’m truly happy for him.”
Added a smiling D’Antoni: “It’s great, but we’re talking about the greatest offensive player (ever) — he definitely had to get there, right? That doesn’t surprise anybody. He just keeps rolling right along and keeps playing. He had a couple of stretches there in the last three to five days that weren’t real good, but he’s a rhythm player.
“Once he gets back in his rhythm, he’s good, and he looked like he got back in it the last three quarters.”
The Rockets played without center Clint Capela, whom D’Antoni chose to rest with a bruised right heel, giving Capela four days rest between games to try and get the lingering injury better. Hartenstein started in Capela’s place and finished with 17 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
“He knows how to play and he’s got energy,” D’Antoni said of his young center. “He can really get (Harden) free by getting energy pick and rolls early in the half-court (offense), and James getting down the court.
“There are a lot of things that Isaiah does that are hard to teach — but he just does them.”
The Rockets (26-12) and Timberwolves (15-23) played an ugly first quarter, with the Rockets committing nine turnovers in the first 12 minutes, including five by Harden in that span. But the Rockets still led by two (22-20) after one quarter, a sign of what was to come when they cleaned up their overall game.
The Rockets already had defeated the Timberwolves 125-105 on Nov. 16 in Minneapolis, with Harden scoring 49 in that one. Minnesota entered Saturday’s game having won three of its last four games despite competing without their top scorer, center Karl-Anthony Towns, who also missed Saturday’s game.
“We got our butts kicked, it’s a credit to Houston,” Timberwolves coach Ryan Saunders said. “We need to be better in terms of withstanding runs, especially against a good team.”
The Rockets won their 13th straight home game against Minnesota, and avoided losing consecutive games for the first time since late November.
“They’re a tough team to play,” Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins said. “They have all the weapons, especially when they’re hitting shots. In the first quarter they weren’t really hitting shots. But after that they were making shots and making plays, so it was tough.”
The Rockets play at Memphis on Tuesday. The Rockets defeated the Grizzlies 107-100 in Memphis on Nov. 4 in their seventh game of the season, with Harden scoring 44 points.