Capela and Tucker help Harden in fourth as Rockets edge Cavs

Posted: November 9, 2017 -- 11:21 pm CST.

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- In a superstar battle featuring James Harden and LeBron James, the Houston Rockets topped the Cleveland Cavaliers 117-113 Thursday night thanks to P.J. Tucker and Clint Capela's hustle in the fourth quarter.

Harden finished the game with 35 points, 13 assists, 11 rebounds and 5 steals; however, he shot 1 for 8 in the final period.

Capela made 4 of his 5 field goal attempts in the fourth quarter including a clinching alley-oop slam dunk (assist from Harden) with 70 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Capela completed the three-point play to give the Rockets a 115-111 lead.

P.J. Tucker dove on the floor to grab the loose ball and got the ball to Harden; then, Harden tossed a soft lob pass to Capela for the dunk.

"If I'm at the four, I feel like can't nobody stop be from getting offensive rebounds," Tucker said after the game. "So, a lot of times, I float through space. That's a lot of real estate to move in there and be able to sneak in there to get live rebounds. I think those are plays that win games.

"Clint got an and-one -- offensive rebounds -- I think those are the plays that win games."

The Rockets (9-3) shot 6 for 22 in the fourth quarter; but, Capela (5) and Tucker (4) combined for 9 offensive rebounds to keep possessions alive and eventually wrap up the ball game.

"The key was, obviously, what P.J. did for us on the offensive rebounds and stuff," Mike D'Antoni said after the game. "We struggled a little bit because I think we got tired legs obviously. They kept battling through it. P.J. got every loose ball on the ground. Those possessions; and, then, Clint finishing off with offensive rebounds and blocked shots.

"I told them there are different ways to win a game. You can have points, you can out shoot them; but, when we out scrap them; out play them; and get all the 50-50 balls; get all the rebounds; that bodes well for nights that you are not on. We'll definitely take it."

The Rockets outscored the Cavs 36-25 in the first quarter; and, early in the second quarter, the lead ballooned to 18 (45-27) with 10:48 remaining in the quarter. At the point, the Cavs' defense seemed like an afterthought while the Rockets' offense seemed unstoppable.

Then, the tide began to turn; and, Jeff Green erupted.

Yep, Jeff Green.

Green scored 20 points (8 for 9 field goals, 3 free throws) in the second quarter. The Rockets had no answer for him. When Green didn't score LeBron James did score. LeBron scored 16 points in the second quarter. The Cavs scored 42 points (17 for 23 field goals) in the quarter. Green and James combined for 36 of the points on 15 for 17 field goal shooting.

The Rockets turned the ball over 11 times in the second quarter; and, the Cavs converted those miscues into 22 points.

After the disastrous second quarter in which the Rockets were outscored 42-29, the Rockets trailed 67-65 at halftime.

Harden turned things around for the Rockets in the third quarter with 15 points (4 for 7 field goals, 4 for 5 threes) and 4 assists. His 15 points keyed the Rockets to winning the third quarter 35-26 to lead 100-93 after three quarter. The Rockets shot 10 for 16 from the floor in the quarter including 6 for 10 from three.

Cleveland's Kevin Love made a three-point shot to begin the fourth quarter and trim the Rockets' lead to four (100-96).

Clint Capela scored five points sandwiched between a Harden three-pointer and a Tucker three-pointer during a 11-2 run for a 111-98 lead with 8:02 remaining in the game.

After Tucker's basket, the Rockets missed 11 consecutive field goal attempts. The Cavs crawled back into the game with a 13-1 spurt over 6 minutes and 23 seconds to trim the Rockets lead to one (112-111) with 1:39 on the game clock.

On the Rockets' next possession, Harden missed a finger roll; but, during a mad scramble on the floor for the loose ball, P.J. Tucker grabbed the ball and dished to Harden to set up the key alley-oop pass to Capela for the key three-point play with 1:10 remaining.

LeBron James scored a driving lay-up to reduce the Rockets' lead to 115-113 with 57.2 seconds remaining.

Harden missed a step-back three-point shot; but, Tucker grabbed the offensive rebound for a new Rockets' possession. Next, Harden airballed a 18-foot step back jump shot; but, Capela caught the missed shot and scored a left-handed lay-up with 10.7 seconds on the clock for 117-113 lead.

"I knew that after a missed shot, I knew that I had to be relentless on the offensive rebounds because that's how we live," said Capela after the game. "Somebody misses a shot; and, you get the offensive rebound and then we get another shot and that is better for us. Whenever we have a chance to beat them, you've got to beat them."

The Cavs called a time-out; and after a few seconds, Capela blocked a LeBron James shot attempt. The ball bounced to Green; but, Green missed and Tucker grabbed the rebound to close out the game.

"On the last one (blocked shot), I knew that he was going to try to score," Capela said of his blocked shot on James. So, I was thinking 'yeah man, I'm going to get that'. Once I felt like he was going up, I just swiped it."

Capela finished the game with 19 points, 13 rebounds, and blocked shots. He now has seven double-doubles in the 12 games this season. Capela didn't record his seventh double-double last season until game number 31.

The Cavs lost despite shooting 55.6% from the floor. The Cavs had won 48 consecutive games when shooting 55.0% or better entering tonight. The last loss occurred December 15, 1999.

The Rockets outrebounded the Cavs 45-26 tonight.

Harden finished the game with 35 points, 13 assists, 11 rebounds, and 5 steals. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Harden is the first player to post those numbers in a single game since steals became an official statistic in the 1973-1974 season.

Harden made 6 three-point field goals tonight. He has at least 6 three in four consecutive games which is the longest streak in NBA history with at least 6 three-point field goals made.

The Rockets next game is Saturday, November 11, versus the Memphis Grizzlies. Tip is set for 7 p.m.

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