16th straight victory keeps Rockets in 1st
The Rockets are still rolling. Chris Paul scored 25 points, James Harden had 23 points and 11 assists, and Houston beat the Thunder 122-112 in Oklahoma City on Tuesday night for its 16th straight victory.
The Rockets tied Boston for the longest win streak in the league this season and are on the second-longest win streak in franchise history. Harden was blunt when asked what those things meant to him.
“Nothing,” he said. “Nothing at all. We just want to play well. We want to play well and have each other’s back, no matter what, on both ends of the floor. It doesn’t matter. Wins and losses will come.”
Russell Westbrook scored 32 points and Carmelo Anthony added 23 for Oklahoma City, which is in a logjam of teams trying to fight their way into third place in the West.
Oklahoma City had beaten several of the league’s top teams this season. The Thunder have two wins over the Warriors, a victory over Toronto and a win over Cleveland. The Rockets avoided that fate by going 17-for-33 on threepoint tries and 29-for-34 on free-throw attempts.
“We’re so good offensively that every single night, teams are going to throw different coverages at us,” Harden said. “We’ve just got to figure out ways to attack them. Tonight was no different.”
Teammate Trevor Ariza, who scored 15 points, said, “We know what we have to do. We know we need to keep the floor spaced. When the floor is spaced, it’s like reading a little A-B-C book.”
The Rockets led 54-45 at halftime as Harden posted 13 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Anthony had 19 points for the Thunder and Westbrook had 14, but All-Star Paul George went 1-for-7 from the field before the break.
The Thunder closed the gap to three in the opening minutes of the third quarter, but the Rockets turned it on and led 87-74 at the end of the period.
“You just have to keep playing,” Oklahoma City guard Corey Brewer said. “They are going to make shots. You can’t get down. You can’t let their shot-making affect your game. I think tonight we got a little bit down when they made tough shots, but that’s what they do.”
Houston extended its lead to 19 midway through the fourth.
“When a team like that is making threes, it’s tough out there because you’re always in a scramble situation,” Anthony said.
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