James Harden’s 30 for 30 leads Rockets to win over Mavericks

The Rockets took care of business Monday night by defeating the Mavericks by a score of 120-104.

The Rockets lead this game most of the way, taking a small lead in the first quarter and exploding in the second quarter.

Houston outscored Dallas 39-28 in the second quarter and took a 64-50 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, Dallas tried clawing back but only got to within nine points in the second half. Houston was on a mission tonight to prove that Saturday night was a fluke — and it showed.

James Harden lead the way for the Rockets with 31 points, scoring 11 in his final two minutes of action to score 30 or more points for the 30th straight game.

Only Wilt Chamberlain has had streaks longer than Harden’s current streak. The mark to beat is 65, and Harden still has a ways to go to get to that one. However, Wilt’s second-longest streak lasted until 31, which Harden will look to match in the Rockets’ next contest.

Harden was not the only Rocket to hit the record books tonight.

Chris Paul passed Gary Payton on the all-time assists list with 11 dimes tonight. He added 17 points to notch the lone double-double for the Rockets tonight.

Outside of CP3 and The Beard, the Rockets’ supporting cast also shined.

Kenneth Faried put 17 points on the scoreboard, Eric Gordon had 18, and Gerald Green knocked down 19 to lead the bench, going 5-8 from deep.

Green has had an incredible February, averaging 14.6 points per game off the bench. He’s also shooting 41.2 percent from three this month, an improvement from his 32.7 percent in January.

Tonight, the Rockets connected on 23 threes in total, which was crucial in the victory.

For the Mavs, Luka Doncic lead the team with 21 points and 10 rebounds but the team struggled to defend the Rockets on the perimeter and could not keep up.

Tonight was a sign that the team should not be panicking and that the team is moving forward in the right direction.

With Portland’s loss to Oklahoma City tonight, Houston is tied with Portland for fourth place — first round homecourt — in the Western Conference standings. That’s not a bad place to be with the All-Star Break just around the corner.

Before the Rockets go on their mini-vacation, the team has one last tune-up in Minnesota against the Timberwolves on Wednesday. Tipoff is at 7 p.m.

Box Score