The Houston Rockets nearly got screwed out of a win Thursday night, but MVP front-runner James Harden wasn’t about to let that happen.
The Rockets edged the Golden State Warriors in an overtime thriller in the Bay Area on Thursday night behind a ridiculous 44-point, 15-assist and 10-rebound triple-double from Harden.
It was almost for naught, however, following one of the worst non-calls in recent memory that led to the Warriors taking the lead in the final seconds of overtime.
Warriors star Kevin Durant “saved” a ball from going out of bounds, with Stephen Curry eventually draining a go-ahead jumper. Replays, however, showed Durant clearly was out of bounds when he grabbed the ball.
Curry’s jumper gave Golden State a 134-132 lead with 22.2 seconds remaining.
That ultimately proved to be way too much time for Harden. In the final seconds, Harden did exactly what he’s been doing for the last month — he hit a huge shot.
Harden has been ridiculously good for pretty much the entire season, averaging more than 33 points for the season. He’s taken his game to another level since mid-November, though, averaging nearly 37 points, nine assists and six rebounds per game in that time.
Houston has now won 11 of its last 12 (with Harden averaging 40 points per game) and sits in fourth place in the Western Conference, now just two games behind Golden State for the third seed.
