[h=1]Harden explodes for 45 points in Rockets win over Hawks[/h] Posted on November 2, 2012 at 9:08 pm by Jonathan Feigen in Game recaps, General, Houston Rockets, Rockets
James Harden and Jeremy Lin did not need much help. When the Hawks rallied from a 16-point deficit to take a fourth quarter lead, they got just enough.
Patrick Patterson and Chandler Parsons hit 3s to offer just enough to stop the Hawks run. Harden and Lin took it from there.
Harden scored 18 of his career-high 45 points in the fourth quarter. Lin scored 21 points with a career-high 10 rebounds and seven assists. Marcus Morris added a career high 17 points in just 19 minutes off the bench as the Rockets won 109-102.
The Rockets would have had no chance, however, without the phenomenal play of their backcourt.
With the game tied after a Harden drive heading into the final five minutes, the Rockets missed three shots at the rim and turned the ball over, and their way out of Atlanta with a win was clear.
Harden hit a jumper through a foul. Harden missed the free throw, but Patrick Patterson got the rebound, Harden again scored through a foul, and this time hit the free throw for a five-point Rockets lead.
Lou Williams cut the lead to three, but with 1:55 left and the Rockets still looking for someone to step up, Chandler Parsons line-drived a 3-pointer in for 100-94 Rockets lead.
Parsons had been 1 of 8 before that shot, but the Rockets had spent the night searching for just enough to burn a defense bent on controlling Lin and Harden.
A game after Harden lit up the Pistons, the Hawks kept him surrounded in a double-team far from the basket and from the game’s first possession.
Harden missed his first two shots and then charged into Josh Smith, but he quickly adjusted. The Rockets moved the ball quickly, and they got wide-open looks for their shooters from beyond the arc.
The real accomplishment of the first half, however, was that they somehow led by as much as eight before they made their first 3-pointer. The Rockets missed their first 15 shots from beyond the arc, but when Harden finally hit the Rockets’ first 3 of the game, from 26 feet through a DeShawn Stevenson foul, adding the free throw for a 14-point Rockets lead.
The Rockets pushed the lead to 16 in the third quarter, and had many things working as they wanted. Omer Asik was all over the board. Morris gave a huge scoring lift off the bench. Lin was having a strong game. But the Rockets were so incapable of taking care of the ball, they not only kept the Hawks in the game, they kick-started the Atlanta break and comeback.
While the Rockets became dependent on whatever Harden and Lin could create, the Hawks needed just to gather long rebounds or turnovers and run. After Lin came up empty on a drive, Smith finished a break to complete the comeback, putting Atlanta up with 7:12 later. Moments later, Carlos Delfino threw the ball away and Smith again finished for a three-point Atlanta lead.
Patrick Patterson sank a corner 3 to tie the game, but the Rockets would have to win the closing minutes to take the game.
James Harden and Jeremy Lin did not need much help. When the Hawks rallied from a 16-point deficit to take a fourth quarter lead, they got just enough.
Patrick Patterson and Chandler Parsons hit 3s to offer just enough to stop the Hawks run. Harden and Lin took it from there.
Harden scored 18 of his career-high 45 points in the fourth quarter. Lin scored 21 points with a career-high 10 rebounds and seven assists. Marcus Morris added a career high 17 points in just 19 minutes off the bench as the Rockets won 109-102.
The Rockets would have had no chance, however, without the phenomenal play of their backcourt.
With the game tied after a Harden drive heading into the final five minutes, the Rockets missed three shots at the rim and turned the ball over, and their way out of Atlanta with a win was clear.
Harden hit a jumper through a foul. Harden missed the free throw, but Patrick Patterson got the rebound, Harden again scored through a foul, and this time hit the free throw for a five-point Rockets lead.
Lou Williams cut the lead to three, but with 1:55 left and the Rockets still looking for someone to step up, Chandler Parsons line-drived a 3-pointer in for 100-94 Rockets lead.
Parsons had been 1 of 8 before that shot, but the Rockets had spent the night searching for just enough to burn a defense bent on controlling Lin and Harden.
A game after Harden lit up the Pistons, the Hawks kept him surrounded in a double-team far from the basket and from the game’s first possession.
Harden missed his first two shots and then charged into Josh Smith, but he quickly adjusted. The Rockets moved the ball quickly, and they got wide-open looks for their shooters from beyond the arc.
The real accomplishment of the first half, however, was that they somehow led by as much as eight before they made their first 3-pointer. The Rockets missed their first 15 shots from beyond the arc, but when Harden finally hit the Rockets’ first 3 of the game, from 26 feet through a DeShawn Stevenson foul, adding the free throw for a 14-point Rockets lead.
The Rockets pushed the lead to 16 in the third quarter, and had many things working as they wanted. Omer Asik was all over the board. Morris gave a huge scoring lift off the bench. Lin was having a strong game. But the Rockets were so incapable of taking care of the ball, they not only kept the Hawks in the game, they kick-started the Atlanta break and comeback.
While the Rockets became dependent on whatever Harden and Lin could create, the Hawks needed just to gather long rebounds or turnovers and run. After Lin came up empty on a drive, Smith finished a break to complete the comeback, putting Atlanta up with 7:12 later. Moments later, Carlos Delfino threw the ball away and Smith again finished for a three-point Atlanta lead.
Patrick Patterson sank a corner 3 to tie the game, but the Rockets would have to win the closing minutes to take the game.
