Harden scored 37 points to outshine Westbrook, and the Rockets pulled away in the third quarter and coasted to a 118-87 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series. Although James Harden is Houston’s undisputed star, he can’t top Russell Westbrook entirely on his own. HOUSTON – James Harden's first 3-pointer
Grant Long Womens Jersey was an air ball. His next one missed badly, too. By halftime he'd missed four more from beyond the arc. But part of the reason Harden has turned himself into one of the leading candidates for MVP playing in Mike D'Antoni's pace-and-space system this season is that he has learned to do so many other things so well. Russell Westbrook's numbers against Patrick Beverley stand in stark contrast to his production against other all other Rockets defenders. James Harden went for 37 points while Russell Westbrook had 22, along with 9 turnovers. "As a point guard I have to try to find ways to split the defense. They're switching with the big [man] and taking our 3-pointers away, so I just tried to get to the basket." There are few players in the NBA who can drive into the teeth of the defense and score at the rim or find an open shooter out of that action like Harden. The Rockets' offense has been fueled by Harden's brilliance at that particular skill all season long. James Harden had a big game, and it mostly came when he wasn't matched up with Andre Roberson. Harden faced Roberson on 55 percent of his plays in the first half, compared to just 33 percent in the second half. After a regular season in which Russell Westbrook averaged about 16 more points than James Harden in their four head-to-head meetings, Harden turned the tables and outscored Westbrook by 15 in Game 1 Sunday. When a big switched onto James Harden, the Rockets guard fared pretty well Sunday, going a combined 6-for-9 from the floor against the trio of Enes Kanter, Taj Gibson and Steven
http://www.officialbluejacketsproshop.com/Scott_Hartnell_JerseyAdams. As is so often the case, Patrick Beverley was there for support Sunday night. Harden had nine assists and seven rebounds, and Beverley, who had the unenviable task of guarding Westbrook, had a playoff career-best 21 points along with 10 rebounds. Beverley’s performance was nothing new to Harden, who has had a front row seat to his work for years. The third-seeded Rockets were up by 20 when Harden came off the bench with about seven minutes remaining. He went right to work — making two 3-pointers to power a 10-0 run and push the lead to 110-80 with 4 1/2 minutes left. Harden, who along with Westbrook is a front-runner for MVP, went to the bench, and both teams cleared their benches soon after that. “That’s the reason we’re in the position we’re in,” Harden said. “He brings it every game. Whether his shot is falling or not, he brings that intensity, that resolve. He was just Pat tonight.” Westbrook had 22 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, but made just 6 of 23 shots and had nine turnovers for the sixth-seeded Thunder. “We’ve got to do a better job starting with myself — got to do a better job of taking care of the basketball and making some shots,” Westbrook said. Beverley refused to take credit for slowing Westbrook down. “It was a team effort in just trying to show him a lot of bodies,” he said. “He’s one of the most explosive guards in this league, so we were just trying to make it tough on him.” The Rockets scored the first five points of the second half
http://www.authenticramsofficialshop.com to push their lead to 10 early in the third quarter. After a timeout, Oklahoma City scored the next eight points with 3s from Westbrook and Andre Roberson to cut it to 64-62 with about 8 1/2 minutes left in the quarter. Houston scored the next nine points, capped by consecutive 3-pointers by Beverley to make it 73-64 midway through the period. Beverley went to the bench soon after that to a huge ovation and a high five from Houston Texans star J.J. Watt, who watched the game from a courtside seat. Thunder coach Billy Donovan raved about Beverley. “He played a very, very good game,” Donavan said. “I thought he impacted the game way, way more with his energy, his effort, his hustle, his loose balls, his offensive rebounding, keeping balls alive. That’s where he really did a great job.” Capela missed a few minutes in the second quarter to receive three stitches in his lip. He had 14 points and seven rebounds. Nene had 15 points . Houston had 31 second-chance points to just four by the Thunder. Westbrook ended
http://www.officialpistonstore.com/Isiah_Thomas_Jersey a scoring drought of almost 3 1/2 minutes for the Thunder with a layup, but Houston used an 8-2 spurt — highlighted by a 3 from Eric Gordon — to push the lead to 81-68 with just more than three minutes remaining in the third. Harden made a pair of free throws to cap the third quarter and leave Houston up 89-74 entering the fourth. For Houston coach Mike D’Antoni, it’s the first postseason win since April 27, 2008, with Phoenix. D’Antoni’s teams were swept in the first round in his last two trips to the playoffs in 2011 with the Knicks and 2013 with the Lakers. Houston’s victory comes after the team went 3-1 in the regular season against the Thunder. The Rockets led 59-54 at halftime. Roberson added 18 points with seven rebounds. Oklahoma City, which led the NBA in rebounding in the regular season, was outrebounded 56-41. … Jerami Grant had 10 points. The Thunder trailed by 15 entering the fourth quarter, and six straight points by the Rockets extended the lead to 100-78 with about 7 1/2 minutes remaining. Lou Williams scored the first four points in that span, and Beverley found Clint Capela on an alley-oop dunk. D’Antoni wants to make sure that his team realizes it still has a lot of work to do despite its big win. “All we did
Pierre-Luc Dubois Womens Jersey is defend our home court, and that’s what we’re supposed to do,” he said. “It’s nice to play well and get the win because you have to, but this is just one little step … in the big scheme of things. I’m sure they’ll bounce back, and we’ve got to be ready to go.”
