The Houston Rockets overcame an off night from James Harden to extend their winning streak to a season-best eight games with a 94-93 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Harden picked up a fifth foul in the opening seconds of the third quarter, missed 18 of his 25 shots and took just three free throws, but Houston proved when healthy they are more than a one-man team.
🚀 @TheofficialEG10 puts up a game-high 26 PTS (5 3PM) in the @HoustonRockets 8th consecutive victory! #Rockets pic.twitter.com/4misRUQ1Yz— NBA (@NBA) March 11, 2019
Eric Gordon picked up the slack with a game-high 26 points for the visiting Rockets, center Clint Capela added 17 points and 12 rebounds, and Chris Paul had nine points and nine assists despite suffering a 2-for-11 shooting night.
But it was Paul who came through in the final seconds with a game-saving blocked shot as Mavericks rookie guard Jalen Brunson tried a jumper at the buzzer to preserve the low-scoring win.
Heading Back to H-Town with a W!#RunAsOne 🚀 pic.twitter.com/HE32trDatT— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) March 11, 2019
Dallas, losers of five in a row, tied the game at 89-89 on a Tim Hardaway Jr. 3-pointer with 4:04 remaining in the fourth quarter, but he and Luka Doncic missed 3-pointers that would have given Dallas the lead. Rockets forward P.J. Tucker then hit a corner 3 to make it 94-91 with 1:29 to go.
Doncic, who was hobbling late in the game, led the Mavs with 19 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists. He didn’t have a good shooting game, going 5-16 overall and 1-6 from beyond the arc.
Chris Paul gets a piece to seal the @HoustonRockets 8th win in a row! #Rockets pic.twitter.com/wyFOmz6bjz— NBA (@NBA) March 11, 2019
Rookie Brunson scored 18 points with seven rebounds. Reserve forward Maximilian Kleber was the only other Mavs player to score in double figures with 10 points while adding 11 rebounds.
Houston Rockets were 11-14 sitting at 14th seed in the West.
James Harden then went on a 38 game run averaging:
40.4 ppg, 7.1 apg, 7.1 rpg, 2.2 spg, 1 bpg .. carrying the Rockets to the 3rd seed with a 39-25 record.
Meanwhile the Lakers are in the lottery: pic.twitter.com/swCnT3nQc4— Jad (@JadLaker9) March 7, 2019