James Harden reached the 15,000 point mark for his career as part of a 36 point night, and the Rockets defeated the Nets 123-113 in Brooklyn on Tuesday night. This was their fifth straight victory, and ninth in their last ten games.
CP3 stayed hot with 25 points for Houston, who, as a team, remained sizzling three days removed from their obliteration of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Both teams made sixteen threes in an entertaining back and forth game that was not lacking on the offensive end to say the least.
The Nets briefly took the lead late in the third quarter, but the Rockets quickly took back control with a three from super sub Gerald Green, and did not relinquish their advantage again for the rest of the game. A Chris Paul step back three made it a 108-94 Houston lead, and despite a few runs from the Nets the Rockets were able to hold off their pesky opponents.
DeMarre Carroll scored 21 points for the Nets and Spencer Dinwiddie added 18 points and nine assists. Brooklyn has lost seven of its last eight.
The Nets had an 84-80 lead when Spencer Dinwiddie scored from 10 feet beyond the three point line with less than 4 minutes left in the third quarter. The Rockets charged back with 11 straight points, including two threes from Gerald Green, to go up 91-84.
Brooklyn ended the run with a pair of free throws but Paul was then fouled behind the line on the other end of the floor and sunk all three free throws. He scored the final basket of the period to make it 96-86 when Nene freed him for a layup with a devastating pick on Paris LeVert, who was knocked out of the game after the play.
The Rockets moved to 39-13 on the season, and their win, coupled with a Warriors loss to the Thunder, has the team only one game back from first place in the Western Conference. This is Houston’s best record through 52 games in team history. The trade deadline is Thursday, look for the Rockets to fill any holes that GM Darryl Morey believes he has(Morey always seems to be active at the trade deadline).
This was the Nets first game without center Tyler Zeller, who was traded to the Bucks earlier Tuesday. Jarrett Allen made his first start, and he appears to be the team’s future at the center position.