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(Reuters) – James Harden capped a miserable shooting performance with a timely defensive play, and the Houston Rockets held out for a 104-102 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series on Wednesday near Orlando. .
Harden approached Thunder guard Luguentz Dort and posted a blocked shot with 4.8 seconds left and Houston clinging to a one-point lead. Following a Robert Covington free throw, the Rockets blew up a play within the Thunder’s bounds with 1.1 seconds left to secure the series and set a date against the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals.
Game 1 of that series is scheduled for Friday at the AdventHealth Arena at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
Dort produced a maximum of 30 points on 6-of-12 3-point shooting, the highest scoring total for an undrafted rookie in Game 7. But the Rockets cracked down on other places on defense, forcing the shooting guard. Thunder’s Chris Paul to lose six balls while holding Dennis Schroder to 5 of 17 shots.
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander matched Paul with 19 points and hit a corner 3-pointer that gave the Thunder a 102-101 lead with 1:42 to play. But those were the game-ending points for the Thunder, who committed 22 turnovers that Houston converted to 28 points.
Harden shot just 4 of 15 and had 17 points, a series low. But he added nine assists and got help from his teammates, with Covington recording 21 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Eric Gordon equaled Covington with 21 points, while Russell Westbrook had 20 points and nine rebounds.
Paul added 11 rebounds and 12 assists to complete a triple-double. No team led by more than eight points in a contest that featured 13 draws and 15 leadership changes.
With Harden off to a dismal shooting start, missing 5 of 6 shots, Covington, Gordon and Westbrook led the Rockets on offense in the first quarter by recording six points each. But the Thunder led by just one point entering the second quarter despite shooting 11 of 20 from the floor by virtue of seven turnovers in the first period that the Rockets converted to 10 points.
Dort caught fire in the second, scoring a dozen points during a stretch before the Rockets took control of him. Gordon and Covington combined for 30 points as Houston led 61-59 at intermission.
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