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Luguentz Dort (5) of Oklahoma City Thunder has his 3-point attempt blocked by James Harden (13) of the Houston Rockets as referee Pat Fraher, rear left, watches during the second half of a first-round basketball game of the NBA in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2020 (AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida – James Harden made up for a miserable night of shooting with a great blocked shot, Russell Westbrook scored 20 points against his former team and the Houston Rockets edged the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-102 Wednesday night in Game 7 of the first round series.
The Rockets pulled off a tense first-round final game that lasted well beyond the final basket as reps and fouls were resolved.
Ultimately, Houston prevailed to set up a second-round showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers that begins Friday despite the NBA’s leading scorer Harden making 4 of 15 shots from the field.
The frantic closing seconds of a game that was tight throughout saw Houston take the lead definitively at 103-102 when PJ Tucker scored with 1:25 to play. After possession changes, the Thunder passed the ball to Lu Dort, who attempted a 3-pointer that Harden blocked with 4.8 seconds left.
Robert Covington hit a free throw with 1.4 seconds to go and Harden received a whistle for fouling Danilo Gallinari before the ball went in, giving the Thunder a free throw and the ball. But Gallinari missed the free throw and the Thunder flipped it on the last pass into the field.
Covington had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Eric Gordon also scored 21 points for the Rockets. Harden finished with 17 points and nine assists.
Dort scored career-best 30 points for the Thunder. Chris Paul, traded for Westbrook over the summer, had 19 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds.
It was a wild conclusion to an odd series in which the Rockets won Games 1 and 2 comfortably and Game 5 by 34, the largest margin in franchise postseason history, but they had not been achieved in close games. Oklahoma City won Game 3 in overtime by beating Houston 15-3, the largest point differential in overtime in NBA history, and pulled Game 4 by three points and Game 6 by four.
The Rockets had no chance of winning this one in a win thanks in large part to Harden’s struggles. He missed 10 of his 12 shots in three quarters, but led 85-80 behind a solid performance from Westbrook, who missed the first four games of the series with a strained right quadriceps.
Covington then hit a key pair of 3s in the fourth and Harden made two of his three shots on the period, including a basket that broke a 99-point tie.
The Thunder closed the first quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 30-29 lead. Then it was Dort with a 12-point second quarter, hitting three 3-pointers to continue a notable change from Game 5, when his 3-of-16 night included going 0-of-9 behind the arc. He bounced back with 13 points in Game 6.
One of his 3s gave the Thunder a six-point lead, but Houston closed strong to lead 61-59 at the break.
Houston got the last five points of the third on a Westbrook basket and a triple from Jeff Green, another former Oklahoma City player, to take an 85-80 lead in the final 12 minutes.
TIP-INS
Thunder: Dort, an undrafted rookie originally signed to a two-way contract who played 13 games this season in the NBA G League, scored the most points by a Thunder rookie in a playoff game. … The Thunder were called up for a delay in play twice in the first half. The second, an automatic technical foul, occurred when Paul remained in the lane tying his shoe in an apparent attempt to give coach Billy Donovan a chance to challenge a foul that had been called by the point guard.
Rockets: Houston is 7-5 in Game 7, including 1-1 under Mike D’Antoni. The Rockets had lost their other two games 7 in the first round, against Utah in 2007 and Dallas in 2005.… Green scored 13 points.
HERE AND NOW
No one yet knows when and where the NBA will return after this season and D’Antoni has other questions about the future, with the contract expiring after this. But he said he wasn’t thinking about any of that before Game 7.
“Not really. I think the moment is too great to be distracted,” he said. “We’ve been through a lot, I’ve been through a lot in different ways, so I’m looking forward to tonight.”
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