The Houston Rockets allowed 85 points in the first half to rival Dallas, representing the most in franchise history. They trailed by seven points with under 45 seconds to go in regulation.
And yet, led by 49 points from NBA scoring leader James Harden, they found a way to get a crucial victory over the rival Mavericks in their opening regular-season game from the NBA “bubble” in Florida.
With a clutch 153-149 overtime win (box score), the Rockets (41-24) increased their advantage over the Mavs (40-27) in the Western Conference playoff race to 2.5 games, with only seven left to play.
Houston also moved up to the No. 5 spot in the tightly packed West standings. With a loss, the Rockets would have been within a half-game of falling behind the Mavs and into the West’s No. 7 spot.
FINAL: Rockets 153, Mavs 149. What a game, what a COMEBACK! Harden (14-20 FG) explodes for 49, Westbrook 31-11-8, Daniel House hits 6 3Ps and Covington makes clutch plays. Rockets withstood a blistering three-point attack from Dallas and still handed them the L.
— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) August 1, 2020
When Maxi Kleber hit a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left in regulation to give Dallas a 138-131 lead, it appeared Houston was in serious trouble. But Harden quickly answered with a trey of his own to give them life.
Following a stop, two Robert Covington free throws, and Seth Curry splitting a pair for Dallas, the Rockets found themelves down three in the waning seconds. Rick Carlisle’s Mavs fouled Harden before he could attempt a shot, and after making his first free throw, he unintentionally missed the second. Covington, however, came flying in for a well-timed putback to tie the game with 3.3 seconds left, forcing it to overtime.
“Robert came up obviously with a heads-up play,” Houston head coach Mike D’Antoni said postgame. “To win games like this, you’ve got to make plays, and Robert made a big one today.”
“Unbelievable play,” Harden said. “Him and P.J. [Tucker] communicated what they were doing to do on the offensive rebound.”
“Honestly, I didn’t mean to miss it. I intended to make it. It was just a perfect miss, and they did an unbelievable job of moving the Dallas bigs around, and he was able to tip the ball in.
It was an off night for Covington from the field, with 13 points on just 4-of-14 shooting (28.6% FG) and 1-of-9 on 3-pointers (11.1%). But two of those four makes were critical, including the lone trey — which put the Rockets up by four with 1:22 left in overtime, virtually sealing the win.
Rockets comeback was epic 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Hpm9mlrqFC
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) August 1, 2020
With 11 rebounds and a game-high four blocks, Covington was also a part of Houston’s remarkable defensive turnaround. After giving up 85 points in just the first half to the Mavs and their No. 1 offense, Houston puts the clamps on with only 20 points allowed in the fourth quarter and 10 in overtime. Overall, in the 17 minutes between the fourth quarter and OT, Houston outscored Dallas by a decisive 45-30 margin.
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The defensive turnaround was just enough when combined with a spectacular (and clutch) showing on offense. Harden’s 49 points came on wildly efficient 14-of-20 shooting (70%), and he also had nine rebounds, eight assists, three steals, and three blocks. Early on, he passed Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy for second on Houston’s all-time scoring list.
The Rockets trailed by 7 points with 45 seconds to go in regulation and came back to win over the Mavericks tonight.
Entering Friday, teams were 2-711 when trailing by 7+ points with less than a minute to go in regulation. pic.twitter.com/26sKSnQPuL
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 1, 2020
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The other member of Houston’s All-Star backcourt, Russell Westbrook, also played well with 31 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists, and his +12 plus/minus figure over his game-high 44 minutes was the best for any player on either team. Danuel House Jr., who started at small forward in place of the injured Eric Gordon, had 20 points and kept the Rockets within striking distance with six made 3-pointers in 12 attempts (50%).
“We willed our way to that win,” Westbrook said postgame. “They thought they had it, and we went and took it away. … It shows that we have fight. It shows that we can close games, which is important, especially when it comes down to the playoffs. It’s huge for our team.”
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The Rockets found a way to win despite a remarkable offensive showing by the Mavs. Kristaps Porzingis towered over the smaller Rockets with 39 points and 16 rebounds, while All-Star guard Luka Doncic had 28 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. Trey Burke scored 31 points off the bench on an astonishing 8-of-10 shooting night (80%) on 3-pointers.
The two teams lived up to their billing as the NBA’s most high-volume offenses from 3-point range, with Dallas shooting 21-of-49 (42.9%) from behind the arc and Houston at 19-of-48 (39.6%).
“Obviously, we’ve got a lot of things to correct when we watch film tomorrow,” Harden said, referring to his team’s defense. “It’s not even close to where we want to be, but we’re building in the right direction.”
The Rockets will look to keep their momentum rolling at Disney World in Sunday’s nationally televised showdown against the Milwaukee Bucks (54-12), who have the league’s best record. It’ll be a showdown of the NBA’s last two MVPs in Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo, and if Friday is any indication, “The Beard” appears ready for the challenge.
Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. Central on Sunday, with a regional broadcast on AT&T SportsNet Southwest and a national broadcast on ABC.
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