Harden leads Rockets to win over Warriors in NBA match

Houston, Dec 7 (IANS) Houston Rockets’ shooting guard James Harden scored 34 points to lead his team to a 105-83 victory over the Golden State Warriors in an NBA match at the Toyota Center here.

Frustrated by a terrible offensive in their last defeat against the Suns Wednesday, the Rockets started Friday’s game with an urge to win, reports Xinhua.

With good defence and offence, Houston dominated the first quarter and sped to a 31-12 lead. They maintained the gap and led 61-37 at halftime. The Warriors shot only 27 percent in the first half.

In the second half, the Warriors failed to sustain any runs and Houston continued to play a strong defence. The Warriors made just 35.5 percent of their shots in the whole game.

Harden made 13 of 22 shots to score 34 points. Dwight Howard had 22 points and 18 rebounds while Terrence Jones added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 22 points and five assists. Harrison Barnes had 14 points and seven rebounds and Kent Bazemore added 12 and David Lee 11 points as the Warriors saw their two-game win streak end.