Coming off arguably the best performance of his career, James Harden returns to the site where he had his worst outing of the season when the Houston Rockets visit the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday. Harden had 44 points, seven assists and five steals, reaching those gaudy numbers for the second time in his career, in Monday's 110-95 rout of Portland. However, he'll have his sights set on Memphis, which held the bearded lefthander to a season-low six points on 1-of-8 shooting in a rout Nov. 17.
Harden shot 14-of-26 from the field and 12-of-13 from the line and turned the ball over just once against the Blazers. “One thing we really talked about this summer was just being in attack mode and, as you can see, he has been doing it," Rockets center Dwight Howard told reporters. “I am happy he is playing great basketball. This is what we need, and this is what he needs." What Memphis needs is to snap a three-game losing streak after Monday's 97-91 home loss to a struggling Utah club – its first loss to a sub-.500 team at home since Jan. 20 against New Orleans.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, NBA TV, SportSouth (Memphis), ROOT Sports Southwest (Houston)
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (20-7): The Rockets snapped a brief two-game skid due to Harden's heroics and have won eight of their last 11. Harden is averaging a league- and career-high 27 points along with career bests in rebounds (6.2), assists (7.0), steals (2.0), blocks (1.0) and free-throw percentage (88.7). The early favorite for the MVP award is also set to welcome another new teammate to go with swingman Corey Brewer and guard Aley Shved, as mercurial forward Josh Smith told a Houston radio talk show that he has agreed to sign with the Rockets after being released by the Pistons.
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (21-7): Mike Conley had 28 points and Marc Gasol 24 and 12 rebounds in the loss to the Jazz. Memphis hasn't won since a triple-overtime triumph over San Antonio on Dec. 17 and hopes to get forwards Zach Randolph (knee) and Tony Allen (eye) back for the Rockets. "We let three games get away from us," Memphis guard Courtney Lee said. "Three games we definitely should have won or could have won. It's tough. We're alarmed from this. No team wants to lose. We don't want to lose, so it's a bitter taste in our mouths."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler are the only other players in Rockets franchise history to have at least 40 Points, five assists and five steals in a game.
2. Brewer, who had 12 points and five steals in 23 minutes in his team debut Monday, could take minutes away from Trevor Ariza, who is shooting 36.3 percent from floor - lowest in NBA among players with 300 shots.
3. The Grizzlies have failed to reach 100 points in each of the three consecutive losses after reaching double-digits in seven straight games.
PREDICTION: Memphis 93, Rockets 89