Harden’s 40 points lift Rockets over Pacers

James Harden scored a season-high 40 points and Chris Paul added 26 to help the Houston Rockets to their first home win of the season, 115103, over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday night in Houston.

The Rockets, who had lost the last two games of a seasonlong five-game road trip, dropped their first four home games.

Houston was up by 10 with about four minutes left after five quick points by the Pacers, but Harden made two free throws after that to stretch the lead. The Pacers got within 8 on a basket by Cory Joseph with about 90 seconds left, but Paul made a layup a few seconds later to put the game out of reach.

Victor Oladipo had 22 for the Pacers, who have lost three of their last four games.

The Rockets shot 42.6 percent from long-range and made a season-high 20 3s on Sunday night. Harden had eight and Paul Houston’s Clint Capela, left, drives to the basket as Indiana’s Myles Turner defends during Sunday’s game.

added five to lead the way.

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that said Carmelo Anthony’s time with the team will soon come to an end. The New York Times had a sourced report Sunday saying Anthony was notified that he will soon be waived. Anthony, who is in his 16th season, has averaged 13.4 points and 5.4 rebounds in 10 games with two starts this season.