NBA Daily: Rockets Outlast Suns 115-109 Behind Harden’s 18 Fourth Quarter Points
By Reylan Loberternos
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 09 Dec 2019
Boracay Island, Philippines – Struggling through the first three quarters, shooting a measly 5-for-19 from the field, former league MVP James Harden scored 18 of his team high 34 points in the final canto to provide the finishing touches for his supporting cast’s solid outings on Saturday night (Sunday morning, Philippine time), as the Rockets survived the Phoenix Suns 115-109 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
Russell Westbrook, also a former league MVP, stuffed the stat sheet with yet another triple-double performance, amassing 24 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. Ben McLemore followed up his excellent shooting in his previous game with 27 markers on an efficient 10-for-15 field goal shooting, including 5-for-9 from deep, off the bench.
Houston now sits at 5th place on the Western Conference team standings with 15 wins and 7 losses.
Devin Booker topscored for the Phoenix with 35 across his name. Ricky Rubio and Dario Saric added double-double performances of 10PT-6REB-13AST and 13PT-12REB-5AST, respectively for the Suns, who dropped to a 10-12 win-loss card for the 8th spot on the Western Conference team standings.
Up next for the Suns are the Minnesota Timberwolves in Phoenix on Monday night (Tuesday morning, Philippine time).
Meanwhile, the Rockets will host the Sacramento Kings on the same night.
How they scored:
Rockets 115 – Harden 34, McLemore 27, Westbrook 24, Capela 12, Rivers 7, House Jr. 5, Sefolosha 4, Tucker 2
Suns 109 – Booker 35, Oubre Jr. 19, Bridges 14, Saric 13, Rubio 10, C. Johnson 6, Jerome 6, Kaminsky 4, Diallo 2
AROUND THE LEAGUE:
(Road Team – Home Team)
NOP 84 – 130 DAL
CLE 94 – 141 PHI
IND 104 – 103 NYK
MEM 112 – 126 UTAH
GAMES TODAY, DECEMBER 9, 2019 CT
DEN @ BKN 4:00 AM CT
ATL @ CHA 6:00 AM CT
CHI @ MIA 7:00 AM CT
TOR @ PHI 7:00 AM CT
LAC @ WSH 7:00 AM CT
SAC @ DAL 8:00 AM CT
OKC @ POR 10:00 AM CT
MIN @ LAL 10:30 AM CT
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