Harden, Rockets outlast Warriors in double OT
OAKLAND, Calif. -- James Harden converted two free throws and Eric Gordon added an interior hoop following a flagrant foul on Draymond Green, propelling the Houston Rockets to a 132-127 double-overtime victory that ended the Golden State Warriors' 12-game winning streak Thursday night.
After a 3-pointer by Harden gave Houston a 126-123 lead in the second extra session, Green was fouled on a follow shot after rebounding a Kevin Durant miss with 2:10 left.
However, Green kicked his right leg in the air while being fouled, smacking Harden in the head in the process.
After a long video review, the referees deemed Green guilty of a Flagrant-1 foul, giving Harden two free throws after Green got two of his own.
Green made only one of two, and when Harden connected on both his attempts, the Houston lead reached 128-124.
Then Gordon converted a tough shot in the key with 1:53 to go, and the Rockets had a six-point lead they were able to massage to the finish.
Harden finished with a 29-point, 15-rebound, 13-assist triple-double for the Rockets (12-7), who had lost eight in a row to the Warriors.
Ryan Anderson matched Harden's team-high point total with 29, and Gordon chipped in with 23 off the bench for Houston, which must endure the second night of a back-to-back Friday at Denver.
In a battle of two of the league's best 3-point shooting teams, the Rockets finished 14 of 44 from behind the arc, while the Warriors struggled to 12 of 44.
Houston was able to extend its streak of consecutive games with at least 10 threes to 18 games.
The Warriors played the final 3:25 of the second overtime without Stephen Curry, who fouled out on an offensive foul. It was his first disqualification since Dec. 13, 2013, which had been the last time the Rockets beat Golden State.
Curry finished with 28 points, and Durant had 39 points and 13 rebounds for Golden State, which lost for the first time since Nov. 4.
Green had 20 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists for the Warriors (16-3).
The Warriors held the upper hand in the first overtime, and they had two chances to take a commanding lead, but Curry missed 3-pointers with 2:33 and 1:49 remaining that could have given Golden State a six-point lead.
Gordon countered the second miss with a game-tying 3-pointer with 1:25 to go, after which a Sam Dekker layup put Houston up 123-121 with 45.4 seconds remaining.
Klay Thompson tied it one more time with a short jumper with 27.4 seconds left, and both teams missed subsequent opportunities, sending the game to a second overtime.
After Durant tied the game at 113-all with a pair of free throws with 19.0 seconds left, the Rockets had the last shot of regulation.
Houston cleared the top of the circle for Harden against Warriors defensive ace Andre Iguodala, and the league's fourth-leading scorer misfired on a step-back 3-pointer, sending the game into overtime.
Consecutive hoops by reserve big man Montrezl Harrell, including one that turned into a three-point play, helped the Rockets take a 91-85 lead early in the fourth quarter.
When Gordon and Anderson buried threes on consecutive possessions, the Houston advantage reached 97-90 with 7:21 to go. But the Warriors ran off the next seven points, drawing even for the first time since the second quarter on a fast break hoops by Green with 5:10 to go.
Neither team led by more than three the rest of the way.
NOTES: The Warriors and Rockets met for the first time since Golden State eliminated Houston 4-1 in the first round of the 2016 playoffs. The Warriors also recorded a 4-1 win over the Rockets in the 2015 Western Conference finals. ... Warriors coach Steve Kerr leaked part of his team's defensive game plan before the opening tip, cautioning, "If you send (James Harden) to the line 15 to 18 times, you probably deserve to lose. You can't foul him." Harden would up 11 of 14 at the line Thursday. ... Two players (Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis) began the day with more free-throw attempts than Harden, and the Warriors had contributed to both. Westbrook went 10 of 14 in his one game against Golden State, Davis 20 of 27 in his two. The Warriors won all three of the games. ... Asked to explain his decision to rest Nene in the first game of a back-to-back rather than Friday in Denver, Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni noted, "Probably because Denver has bigger bodies."