HOUSTON — James Harden poured in a career-high 50 points and added 10 rebounds as the Houston Rockets claimed a 118-108 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night at Toyota Center.
Harden shot 12-for-27 from the floor but matched his career high with 25 free-throw attempts, making 22. He drilled a 3-pointer with 37.5 seconds left to record his first 50-point game as Houston (46-22) closed to within one game of the first-place Memphis Grizzlies in the Southwest Division.
Rockets forward Trevor Ariza added 17 points and six rebounds, while reserve forward Josh Smith scored 12 points. Houston guard Patrick Beverley paired 10 points with seven assists. Houston hit 12 of 30 3-point attempts, with Harden going 4-for-12 from long distance.
Forward Wilson Chandler and guard Randy Foye paced six Nuggets 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), who dropped a second consecutive game following a four-game winning streak.
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 particularly efficient, scoring 22 by the break while needing just 13 shot attempts to do so. Harden connected on nine of 11 free throws by intermission.
However, the Nuggets proved feisty throughout, with Chandler keeping them in range 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.
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 in the fourth quarter, and again the Rockets found a means to suppress the budding rally.
NOTES: Nuggets interim coach Melvin Hunt stuck with his small-ball starting lineup featuring F Kenneth Faried at center primarily to benefit floor spacing. A quintet that features Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler at forward and Ty Lawson plus Randy Foye at guard entered Thursday with a 4-3 record. … 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.