The Oklahoma City Thunder roared home to erase a 26-point deficit to beat the Houston Rockets 117-112 on the road.
Paul George led the Thunder with 45 points and 11 rebounds, while Russell Westbrook extended his triple-double streak to nine games, tying Wilt Chamberlain (1968) for the longest triple-double streak.
Despite a poor shooting night (8-of-21 FG), Westbrook finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, coming up with two clutch layups down the stretch.
#RUSSELLWESTBROOK splits the defense for the go-ahead layup! #ThunderUp 115#Rockets 112
— NBA (@NBA) February 10, 2019
HOU ball. 3.4 to play on #NBAonABC pic.twitter.com/tzv7WxiQPa
With Westbrook struggling from the field, Paul George took control, scoring 15 of his 45 points in the fourth quarter, going head-to-head with James Harden, who scored 42 points, extending his 30pt+ scoring streak to 29 games.
George connected on 12-of-22 from the field, 6-of-14 from three and 15-of-18 from the free throw line.
The Thunder overcame a 26-point deficit to beat the Rockets.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 10, 2019
It was James Harden's 70th career 40-point game, but the first in which he was outscored by an opposing player with Paul George scoring 45. pic.twitter.com/Wr4O0O0lCY
OKC started the game slow, commiting 11 turnovers in the first half, which led to 17 Rockets points as Houston took a comfortable 22-point half-time lead.
The message was clear at half-time and the Thunder responded, taking care of the ball as they slowly chipped away at the lead. They hit their first seven shots of the quarter and turned the heat up on the defensive end, outscoring the Rockets 42-20 in the third, with Dennis Schroder scoring the Thunder's final 11 points of the period to tie the game at 90-90 heading into the fourth.
Thunder hits on the first 7 shots of the 2nd half to cut into the lead. T-Ferg for 3... pic.twitter.com/1XTclORIqr
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 10, 2019
Harden and George traded buckets down the stretch and after Westbrook's layup gave the Thunder the lead with 26.9 seconds left, Harden missed a three-pointer, with George fouled as he got the rebound with 3.4 seconds left.
He drained both from the line to put OKC up three, with Houston turning the ball over on their final posession, leaving George to ice the game at the free throw line.
Terrance Frguson impressed with 15 points in the win, playing some impressive stretches on defence on James Harden. Dennis Schroder added 17 points off the bench as OKC made it three wins in a row.
For Houston, Chris Paul fell one dime shy of a triple-double with 18 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, while Kenneth Faried posted a double-double, with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
