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The Houston Rockets closed out their last regular season home game with a ginormous 149-113 win over the Phoenix Suns.
There wasn’t much going on in the way of excitement or tension in the Rockets’ final home game on Sunday night. The Suns had all their big names out, and the Rockets weren’t going to let an easy, important win go to the wayside.
Houston poured it on Phoenix all night, going up by as much as 43 at one point. To sum up the match, the Rockets broke the previous record they set of 26 threes made in a game by dropping 27 tonight on 57 attempts.
The crowd knew the significance of that shot. Here's Austin Rivers making history as the #Rockets become the first NBA team to ever make 27 3-pointers in a single game. pic.twitter.com/1I6QdTw8hQ
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) April 8, 2019
Eric Gordon, who is arguably playing the best basketball he’s played all season, led the barrage by dropping 8 threes of his own on 12 attempts, totaling 26 points in 24 minutes for the night. Clint Capela is also looking 100% more and more each game, dropping in a cool 22 points and 13 rebounds on 7-9 shooting.
Phoenix heavily doubled James Harden all game, paving the way for others to contribute. P.J. Tucker is getting his stroke back, knocking in 4-9 from 3 for 12 points. Nene looked spry and healthy in 15 minutes of play with 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists on 4-7 shooting. And, of course, Danuel House Jr. led the bench in scoring on 3-4 shooting from three, 4-7 from the field, 6 rebounds, and this monster jam.
DANUEL HOUSE JR. INCOMING! #Rockets 61#TimeToRise 41
— NBA (@NBA) April 7, 2019
: @NBATV pic.twitter.com/e6AqNnQ59X
Despite the tough defense, James Harden was still able to have a near-perfect game. Harden, in 29 minutes, had an ultra-quiet 30 points on 10-14 shooting to go along with his 9 assists and 13 rebounds. As noted previously, he’s now in that exclusive club of 2,700 points, 500 assists, and 500 rebounds in a season, joining only Michael Jordan. He’s now only 18 points away from being the only player in NBA history with 2,800 points, 500 assists, and 500 rebounds in a season.
With this win, the Rockets now move a full two games up on Portland for the third spot, with the chance of adding another half-game worth of space with the Trail Blazers facing the Denver Nuggets tonight. Houston has one more game left in the regular season against the OKC Thunder in Oklahoma on Tuesday.