James Harden and the Houston Rockets dug out of a 0-2 hole to even their Western Conference semi-finals series with the Golden State Warriors after another game where they fought, scrapped and held off a late rally to get a victory.
Harden scored 38 points and the Rockets got a 112-108 win on Monday night to even the best-of seven series at 2-2.
'When you're dealing with these guys, if you let Klay (Thompson) and Steph (Curry) run around and shoot 3s you don't have no chance,' Harden said. 'The only chance we have is to be in to their bodies and make every shot that they take contested.'
James Harden top scored with 38 points as Houston tied their series with Golden State
Harden, celebrating during the victory, also had 10 rebounds at the Toyota Center
The Rockets were up by nine before the Golden State scored the next seven points, capped by a 3 from Stephen Curry, to get within 110-108 with 19 seconds left. Harden made one of two free throws with 11.5 seconds left. Kevin Durant missed a 3 after that. But the Warriors got the rebound and Curry also missed a 3-point attempt before Golden State was forced to foul Chris Paul.
'We got a couple of wide-open looks,' Durant said. 'They just didn't fall for us.'
Paul made one of two free throws with 2.9 seconds left to secure the victory.
Golden State coach Steve Kerr was asked about the physical play of the Rockets, who have several players who are much stockier than his squad.
'They've got a lot of middle linebackers on that team,' he said. 'They're sturdy and we're like volleyball players, long and lean ... everybody tries to be physical with us because they should. That's the best way to try to beat us.'
Kevin Durant tries to stop Harden from shooting during the third quarter in Houston
Andre Iguodala also had a go at stopping the Rockets' star man from scoring
But Harden wouldn't be stopped as he led the Rockets to the win
After losing the first two games of the series on the road, the Rockets head back to Golden State for Game 5 on Wednesday night with momentum on their side after their overtime win in Game 3 before Monday night's victory.
The Warriors got 34 points from Kevin Durant, who had 46 in the Game 3 loss. Curry, who was criticised after shooting 7 for 23 in Game 3, got off to a good start, scoring 11 points in the first quarter. He cooled off after that, but finished with 30 points on 12 of 25 shooting.
