Thursday 18 April 2019 12:04, UK
James Harden recorded a triple-double to lead the Houston Rockets to a 118-98 Game 2 rout of the Utah Jazz in their first-round playoff series.
Harden bettered his 29-point, 10-assist performance in the Rockets' Game 1 win with a 32-point, 10-assist, 13-rebound outing to guided Houston to a 2-0 series lead. It was the third postseason triple-double of his career.
The MVP co-favourite connected on 11-of-24 field goals, including 6-of-13 from three-point range, and hit four of his five free throws.
Harden exploded for 25 first-half points on 8-of-15 shooting, hitting five three-pointers. When he drilled a step-back trey with 4:20 left in the first, the Rockets secured a 33-13 lead.
Utah sliced the deficit to 14 points, but Houston added five three-pointers in the second period to continue the deluge. Harden sank back-to-back triples during that particular surge.
With Utah scrambling to cover Harden's perimeter sharpshooting, the Rockets star turned facilitator, repeatedly finding open team-mates off his dribble penetration.
Houston led 70-44 at half-time and cruised through the second half to seal a wire-to-wire victory.
Speaking after the game, Harden eschewed talk about his own performance, preferring to focus on the Rockets' team defense.
"That's two games in a row we've held [Utah] to under 100 points, that's going to be the key to the series," he said. "We did what we were supposed to do at home and we know how tough it is going to be in Utah [where] they play much better.
"It starts now, the series. We have to be locked in and more focused."
Click the video at the top of the page to watch Harden's stellar Game 2 performance.
Game 3 takes place in Salt Lake City in the early hours of Sunday morning (3:30am).
