Harden's 50-point night carries Rockets past Nuggets

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[March 20, 2015]  HOUSTON -- During his season-long ascent into MVP consideration, Houston Rockets guard James Harden flirted with his single-game scoring standard on a couple of occasions. He finally bypassed his personal best on Thursday night, and added one additional basket for good measure.

Harden poured in a career-high 50 points and corralled 10 rebounds as the Rockets claimed a 118-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets at Toyota Center.

Harden shot 12-for-27 from the floor and matched his career high with 25 free-throw attempts, making 22. Having already surpassed his personal best of 46 points with his final free throw, Harden took a feed from forward Trevor Ariza and drilled a corner 3-pointer with 37.5 seconds left for his first 50-point game as Houston closed to within one game of the first-place Memphis Grizzlies in the Southwest Division.

"I looked up at the scoreboard and he had 45," Ariza said. "He scored 47 at the free-throw line so I had to get him the ball for 50. I've seen someone score 61 before (Lakers guard Kobe Bryant on Feb. 2, 2009 against the New York Knicks while Ariza played for Los Angeles)."

Said Harden: "My teammates are amazing. Trevor noticed what was going on in the game. He dribbled right at me and I said I'm going to let it fly."



Ariza added 17 points and six rebounds while reserve forward Josh Smith chipped in 12 points off the bench. Houston guard Patrick Beverley paired 10 points with seven assists. The Rockets (46-22) hit 12 of 30 3-pointers, their 49th game with at least 10 3-pointers made.

Forward Wilson Chandler and guard Randy Foye paced six Nuggets, including all five starters, in double figures with 23 points apiece. Center Kenneth Faried (19 points, 12 rebounds) and guard Ty Lawson (12 points, 10 assists) recorded double-doubles for the Nuggets (26-43).

Even with the first-quarter loss of forward Terrence Jones to a rib injury, the Rockets had the scoring necessary to secure a 65-49 halftime lead. Harden was efficient early, scoring 22 by the break on just 13 shot attempts. Harden connected on nine of 11 free throws by intermission.

But Denver proved feisty throughout, with Chandler keeping the Nuggets close with 15 first-half points before Foye took over in the third with 13 points as Denver labored to slice the deficit to single digits.

"We did a lot better on that (attacking the Rockets offensively) in the second half," Nuggets interim coach Melvin Hunt said. "We got a couple of back doors and guys got to the rim. We just have to do a better job of jumping into the game and staying with the game."

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Harden had an answer, however, capping the period with a 3-pointer, a driving layup and four free throws that rebuilt the lead to 90-73. The Nuggets again whittled the deficit to single digits, 99-91 with 5:06 left, yet the Rockets found a means to suppress the budding rally once more, with Harden tallying 12 points in the final period to keep Denver at bay.

"He got to the free-throw line a lot," Foye said. "He made a lot of free throws and he did a good job. Obviously he's probably the MVP this year in the NBA. He did an unbelievable job of creating and also getting to the free-throw line."

NOTES: Rockets F Terrence Jones was taken to an area hospital for precautionary reasons after suffering a rib injury in the first quarter. ... Nuggets interim coach Melvin Hunt stuck with his small-ball starting lineup featuring F Kenneth Faried at center primarily to benefit floor spacing. That quintet, featuring Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler at forward and Ty Lawson plus Randy Foye at guard, fell to 4-4. ... With Rockets G Jason Terry again sidelined by a sore left hamstring, G Pablo Prigioni gained another opportunity to work out of his shooting slump. He hit one of two shots Thursday and scored three points. In limited minutes with Houston, Prigioni is shooting 21.1 percent from the field (4-for-19), including 3-for-18 on 3-pointers. ... At halftime, the Rockets honored several members of their 1995 NBA championship team. Houston claimed its second consecutive title that season.

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