Building on his MVP-like play this season, James Harden proved to once again be a nightmare for his former team Thursday night.
Harden led the Houston Rockets to a 112-101 win against the visiting OKC Thunder, filling up the box score with 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.
The victory was the 200th for Rockets head coach Kevin McHale.
Per the Houston Chronicle:
Even on a night in which Harden scored 31 points, topping 30 for the 17th time while taking just 15 shots, and adding nine rebounds and 10 assists, the Rockets won with balance as six players scored in double figures.
“Offensively, we did a great job making the easy pass, knocking down the shots and everybody ate,” Harden said. “Everybody was involved. If there’s two on the ball, I have to trust in my teammates that they will make the next play and they did. Josh (Smith) and D-Mo (Donatas Motiejunas) did a great job of finding either Dwight (Howard) or finding the corner shooter. Oklahoma City is a very good defensive team, especially when you just hold the basketball and they can sit there and watch you.”
In the eight games since their dud in New Orleans to open the month, the Rockets have averaged 110 points per game, second only to Saturday’s opponent, the Golden State Warriors. They have made 47.8 percent of their shots, 39.3 percent of their 3s in that stretch. […] Harden, the league’s leading scorer, has especially made his scoring look easy, making 50 percent of his shots and 46.4 percent of his 3-pointers in those eight games by getting good shots as much as with hot shooting when he took them.
