Harden's triple-double lifts Rockets past Spurs
SAN ANTONIO -- James Harden scored 24 points and distributed 15 assists to lead five Houston players in double figures as the Rockets held on for a 101-99 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday at the AT&T Center.
Harden also had 12 rebounds, giving him his first triple-double of the season.
Houston led 98-95 with 3:39 remaining before the Spurs' Kawhi Leonard hammered home a dunk in transition off a steal by Danny Green. The Rockets' Ryan Anderson then poured in a deep 3-pointer to push the lead to four points, but Harden missed two free throws with 1:27 to play.
Leonard promptly hit a step-back jumper to cut the advantage to 101-99. Harden then missed a 3-pointer, and Leonard missed a jump shot. Harden had the ball in his hands with 27.9 seconds left to try to expand the advantage. He drove into the paint but was called for a charge, giving the Spurs a final shot for the victory with 5.8 seconds remaining.
As expected, San Antonio got the ball to Leonard, who drove the lane. His layup was contested and bounced off the rim, and LaMarcus Aldridge missed on a put-back attempt at the buzzer.
Anderson added 20 points for the Rockets (5-3). Houston's Eric Gordon scored 15 points, and Clint Capela and Sam Dekker hit for 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Leonard led the Spurs (5-3) with 34 points. Aldridge had 14 points for San Antonio and David Lee added 10 points.
The Spurs' first-quarter home defensive woes continued as Houston rolled to a 33-24 lead via nine points and six assists from Harden and 63 percent shooting from the floor. San Antonio hit just 7 of its 21 shots from the floor and had to keep Leonard, who had 10 points in the period, on the floor for all 12 minutes just to keep things within reach.
Seven consecutive points from Lee started a 9-0, early-second-quarter San Antonio run that cut the Rockets' lead to 43-37. The Spurs rolled to the lead at 51-50 on a turnaround jumper by Aldridge, who had all nine of his first-half points in the final seven minutes of the second quarter.
Dekker poured in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send Houston to a 63-60 advantage at intermission.
Leonard led all scorers in the first half with 19 points, while Harden had 14 to pace the Rockets.
The Spurs cut Houston's lead to two points early in the third period and trailed 75-72 after two Leonard free throw with 6:00 to play in the quarter. The Rockets then ran off six of the next eight points to build their advantage back to double digits, 85-74, as San Antonio missed eight straight field goals over a 4:36 span. Houston settled for an 85-80 lead after three quarters.
San Antonio started the fourth quarter with an 8-1 run that was punctuated by a steal and dunk by Green that gave the Spurs an 88-86 lead at the 9:39 mark. That was when Harden took charge for the Rockets, assisting on three consecutive baskets before going to the rim for a nifty layup of his own.
Green started for the Spurs after missing the first seven games with a left quad strain. He scored eight points in 26 minutes.
Point guard Tony Parker, whom Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said practiced well Tuesday, was held out for the third straight game, and fourth this season, due to right knee soreness.
The Rockets played without guard Patrick Beverley, who is experiencing left knee irritation.
NOTES: The Rockets end a stretch where they played seven of their first eight games on the road. The last team to play seven times on the road in its first eight games was Cleveland in the 1970-71 season. ... San Antonio was 3-1 against the Houston Rockets last season, winning both games at home and once at the Toyota Center. ...The Spurs haven't lost three games at home in a row since December 2014, and all three of those were in overtime. ... San Antonio holds the record for highest Rockets opponent field-goal percentage by going 48-71 (.676) from the field on April 7, 1985. ... The most offensive rebounds in Houston team history was reached vs. San Antonio on April 13, 1984, when they grabbed 35. ... Through the first seven games, San Antonio led the league in both free-throw percentage and 3-point shooting percentage. ... Rockets guard James Harden entered the game averaging 12.7 assists per game, then improved on that mark with 15 on Wednesday. Former Utah G John Stockton (12.3 in 1994-95) was the last player to average at least 12 assists per game in a single season.