Rockets at Pistons
The Houston Rockets will be aiming to stretch their winning streak to six games when they visit the Detroit Pistons on Friday in the second game of a home-and-home set between the two teams. Houston posted a 126-124 victory on Wednesday when star guard James Harden scored a season-best 43 points.
The Rockets won eight of their past 10 games but the home win over the Pistons wasn't easy as Detroit splurged for 41 fourth-quarter points. "But we found a way to win," Harden told reporters. "There's going to be games like that where you've got to figure it out." The Pistons were rolling down the stretch as Blake Griffin made five 3-pointers in a span of 3 1/2 minutes but the power forward committed two costly late-game turnovers - and nine overall - to help prevent his club from notching a comeback victory. "Two turnovers down the stretch killed us," Griffin told reporters. "Doesn't matter how many points you score. The big moments - that's where I've got to be better."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBATV, AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston), FS Detroit
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (9-7): Harden also registered nine assists, seven rebounds, four steals and drained all 19 of his free throws in his stellar effort on Wednesday. "James had some big steals, especially guarding the post, having to guard Blake and having to guard (Andre) Drummond," Houston point guard Chris Paul told reporters. "James is a really good post defender. That's why at times we put him on bigs. James' all-around game was unbelievable." Paul contributed 20 points for his fourth 20-point effort in the past five games.
ABOUT THE PISTONS (8-7): The loss to the Rockets was only Detroit's second in the past six games but coach Dwane Casey saw some concerning things that he wants to correct prior to the rematch. "What hurt us was our lack of discipline," Casey told reporters afterward. "Not staying at home, getting sucked in. Unnecessary help was what we call it. There are certain shots we want them to take and some we don't and we got undisciplined a few times, got sucked in. We'll clean that up come Friday night." Drummond recorded 20 points and 11 rebounds for his seventh consecutive double-double and 13th of the season.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Houston C Clint Capela scored a season-best 27 points to go with 15 rebounds and four blocked shots to become the first Houston player with at least 20 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks in consecutive games since Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon in Nov. 1993.
2. Detroit reserve G Langston Galloway was 4-of-5 from 3-point range Wednesday and made four or more in four of the past seven games.
3. Harden moved into third place on the Rockets' all-time scoring list with 13,391 points, passing Rudy Tomjanovich (13,383).