If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Winner, winner, chicken parm dinner!
James Harden and the Rockets won their second straight game on Thursday night with his best game of the season, scoring 50 points on 14-26 shooting, dishing 10 assists and grabbing 11 rebounds in a 126-111 victory of the Lakers.
Harden came to the arena today wearing snakeskin shorts, so at that point, the Lakers knew they had no chance of winning tonight. However, they put up a very good fight.
Los Angeles shot 59 percent from the field in the first half and 53.8 percent throughout the whole game. LeBron James knocked down 29 and Kyle Kuzma was impressive as well with 24 points. However, the team could not handle the hot three-point shooting from the Rockets and their utter grit.
Houston knocked down 15 triples, including three each from Chris Paul, who ended the game with 14 points and nine assists, and Danuel House Jr., who scored 15 off the bench in arguably his best game as a Rocket.
Throughout the first three quarters, the Rockets and Lakers exchanged blows and kept trading scoring runs with neither team able to run away with a big lead. However, with 49 seconds left in the third quarter, Nene, who continued his strong play with six points and seven boards off the bench, was ejected after arguing with the referees.
The Rockets had a one-point lead at that stage in the game, but then they went on the lead that they would end up taking to the bank.
The Lakers took their final lead of the night with eight minutes to go in the fourth after a JaVale McGeedunk, but then the Rockets answered with corner threes on consecutive possessions from House and Gerald Green. Those threes kickstarted a 19-5 run, resulting in five triples for the Rockets and it put the game out of reach.
Also part of that run was an insane Harden three that you have to watch a few times to bask in its glory.
This game featured all the flash, all the progress the Rockets need to make, and the team takes a step forward out of the hole it created for themselves earlier in the season. Let’s see if they can take another step closer to where they need to be on Saturday when they head to Memphis to face the Grizzlies. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. CST.