JAMES Harden had 38 points, including eight in the endgame, and tied his career high 17 assists to lead the Houston Rockets to its second straight win with a 117-107 victory against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night (Saturday, Manila time).
New Orleans scored seven straight points to cut the Rockets lead to two with about two minutes left when Harden ended his team’s scoring drought with a driving layup. Houston’s All-Star later made three free throws to put them up110-105 with about 90 seconds remaining in the game.
Patrick Beverley had 17 points while Eric Gordon finished with 14 points off the bench for Houston which had six players score in double figures.
Anthony Davis had 33 points, 16 rebounds and three steals to lead the Pelicans wich saw its three-game win streak snapped while fellow big man DeMarcus Cousins tallied 29 points, six rebounds and four blocks. Jrue Holiday made 4-of-8 3-pointers for 18 markers.
Houston controlled the boards 59-36 despite the presence of New Orleans' All-Star big men and offset their 19 turnovers.