SAN ANTONIO, United States // The Houston Rockets gave away a 23-point lead, Dwight Howard was being fouled intentionally and the disdain of the San Antonio Spurs’ sellout crowd was roaring down on them in the final minutes of the game.
It was a tense situation that Houston would have folded under last season, James Harden readily admits. The Rockets demonstrated Saturday night that they are a different team this season, even if it is early.
Harden scored 31 points, Chandler Parsons had 25, and Houston overcame a furious second-half rally to beat San Antonio 112-106, handing the Spurs their first home defeat.
“It’s a great win for us,” Harden said. “Last year we probably would have caved in; they would have beaten us by a lot. So, this year the improvement we’ve adjusted to has been tremendous. A back-to-back in San Antonio is always tough, but we showed resiliency and pulled out a great win.”
Harden had 16 points in the final quarter, going 4-for-8 from the field and 7-for-10 on free throws in leading Houston (13-5) to their fifth straight victory.
Howard had 13 points and 11 rebounds, Terrence Jones added 10 points and 16 boards and Patrick Beverly scored 11 points.
Tony Parker had 27 points, Tim Duncan added 20 and Marco Belinelli scored 18 for San Antonio (14-3), who have lost two of three.
San Antonio outscored Houston 39-26 to open the second half, with Belinelli scoring 13 points after halftime to set up a furious finish.
Harden hit a high-arcing, off-balance 3-pointer to tie the game at 106 with a minute remaining.
“That was the shot of the game,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
Parker then missed a driving layup over Howard, and Beverly tipped in Harden’s miss to put Houston up 108-106 with 32 seconds remaining. Manu Ginobili missed a 3-pointer, enabling Houston to outlet to Parsons for a dunk and a 110-106 lead with 16 seconds left to seal a victory over its longtime state rival.
“It’s going to be a dogfight every time we see these guys,” Howard said. “And that’s what we want. That’s going to make us better as a team, and it’s going to make it fun for the fans to watch.”
San Antonio finished 9-for-26 on 3s, including 2-for-9 in the first half. Without the Spurs’ usual crisp ball movement, Parker was forced to take the offence into his own hands, going 13-for-27 from the field.
“Definitely,” Harden said. “If you get Tony Parker to put a lot of shots up, it takes away from all their guys knocking down 3s and getting us off balance.”
The Rockets responded to a late first-half spurt by the Spurs by opening the second half on a 13-2 run that Parsons and Harden opened and closed with 3-pointers.
The run appeared to fire up Duncan, who scored seven of the Spurs’ 13 points in one stretch, including an alley-oop-dunk in front of Howard. The Spurs were energised by their stoic leader showing some fire, closing within 81-80 with 2 minutes left in the third quarter.
“They battled back,” Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. “It got scrappy and dirty, and they got really physical with us. They got a little lead, and our guys made some big plays and battled back down the stretch.”
OTHER SATURDAY RESULTS
Cavaliers 97, Bulls 93
Center Andrew Bynum had 20 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks as the Cleveland Cavaliers posted a home victory over the Chicago Bulls.
Big-man Bynum, who missed the 2012-13 campaign with knee issues, showed flashes of his best form as he recorded his first double-double of the season and helped the Cavs end a five-game losing skid and improve to 5-12 for the season.
Timberwolves 112, Mavericks 106
Shooting guard Kevin Martin finished with a game-high 27 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves snapped a three-game losing skid by picking up a rare road victory.
The Dallas Mavericks lost for only the second time at home this season, but it was their second consecutive defeat after blowing a 17-point lead at Atlanta on Friday.
Nets 97, Grizzlies 88
Guard Joe Johnson scored a game-high 26 points as the Brooklyn Nets beat the Memphis Grizzlies for just their second win in their last nine games.
Memphis never had a second-half lead but pulled within one point early in the final quarter, before fading to drop their fourth straight home game.
Wizards 108, Hawks 101
Point guard John Wall had 26 points and 12 assists, swingman Trevor Ariza scored 24 and the Washington Wizards survived a chaotic second half to beat the Atlanta Hawks.
Washington never trailed during the final three quarters, led by 18 points in the second half, and made 12 three-pointers to fend off multiple Atlanta rallies.
Bucks 92, Celtics 85
Milwaukee shooting guard OJ Mayo scored 22 points as the Bucks snapped an 11-game losing streak with a home victory over the Boston Celtics.
Long-range shooting proved a big difference as the Bucks made 8-of-17 three-pointers, while Boston went just 4-of-19 from beyond the arc.
Jazz 112, Suns 104
The Utah Jazz picked up their first road win of the season by beating the Phoenix Suns, a day after losing to the same team at home.
Rookie point guard Trey Burke hit a big three-pointer to give the Jazz an eight-point lead with 1:13 remaining as Utah improved to 3-15 overall and 1-9 on the road.