The Houston Rockets stunned the Oklahoma City Thunder and their fans with a three-point barrage and hold a 50-43 halftime lead at Chesapeake Energy Arena as they work to keep their season alive.
Rockets vs. Thunder score update, Game 5: Houston won’t go down easy, leads 50-43
Led by a resurgent James Harden and sharp-shooting Francisco Garcia, the Rockets are posed to keep their improbable series comeback run intact as they grabbed the halftime lead at OKC.
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James Harden returned to his superstar form to lead the Rockets with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-4 from the three-point line. Houston is choosing to rest its fate on looks from beyond the arc as they've shot a total of 20 in the first half.
Francisco Garcia poured in four three-pointers to finish with 14 points.
Conversely, Oklahoma City is ice cold from deep, going just 1-for-12 while shooting 41 percent from the field overall. Both teams played a relatively clean game overall with five turnovers each.
Kevin Durant led all scorers with 18 first-half points on 6-of-11 shooting.
Harden showed no fear as he continued to shoot the ball with confidence early on, making his first two three-pointers to lift Houston to an early 16-9 lead. He finished the first quarter with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Durant continued to take the reins for OKC with nine points in the first frame and scored five from the free-throw line as looked to penetrate and get high-percentage looks.
Houston shot a whopping 14 three-pointers in the first quarter, but settled into a more balanced attack in the second. It served them well as they finished with a 46.3 percent shooting mark to close out the half.
Jeremy Lin tried to give it a go before the game, but the bruised chest muscle the point guard suffered in Game 2 continued to bother him enough that he couldn't suit up.
Just as Houston’s outside game is keeping them in the game, the Thunder’s inside presence helped keep the game close as they won the battle of the paint through two, 21-20.
Oklahoma City had 10 blocks in the first half, a new franchise record in that category.
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