Houston’s 25 first-half blanks from …

Houston’s 25 first-half blanks from three were an NBA record and in the second quarter, they shot a dismal 2-19 from the outside. “I thought the first half, we shot the ball horribly,” D’Antoni summarized aptly. Added Harden: “We actually talked about that before the game. When we’re not making shots, we’ve got to find ways to win. I keep saying that it’s going to be on the defensive end. In the first half, we gave ourselves a chance defensively — we weren’t shooting the ball well, but we were only down 6 points. We knew if we made shots and continued to push our pace and do what we do, it was eventually going to turn around for us, and it did in that second half.”