subject: Houston Rockets Open The Season With A Win Vs. Detroit Pistons As Newly Acquired James Harden Shines [print this page] Asian American Jeremy Lin had a good debut in Houston Rockets as he posted 12 points and 8 assists, but it was the reigning Sixth Man of the Year and fellow newcomer James Harden made tremendous contributions to steer the team in a 105-96 victory on Wednesday night at the home of Detroit Pistons.
Harden poured 37 points and issued 12 assists while grabbing six rebounds. He made 14 out of 25 shot attempts in the field and 4 out of ten from deep. The Pistons found no answer to the Rockets game led by Harden's scoring outburst. Detroit managed to get the led 83-72 in early part of the fourth quarter before the hot shooting by Carlos Delfino in three-point area took place. Defino made four three pointers in the last quarter. He was joined by newly acquired Harden, who signed an $80 million contract extension after he was traded from Oklahoma City Thunder. It seemed that Harden was worth it for that amount last night. Brandon Knight led the losing team with 15 points.
Harden started the comeback with his 3-point shot when they were down by 11 points. The shot by Harden was followed by a dunk courtesy of Greg Smith. After the consecutive shots by Defino in three-point line, Detroit led only by two at 85-83. Chandler Parsons tied the score through his layup.
Smith made a dunk to put the Rockets in the driver seat 89-87, and did it again which made the Rockets leading by four points. Then, Houston controlled the game behind Harden and Lin. Jonas Jerebko put up a dunk to the cut the lead to 2, but Defino buried 2 three-point shots to make it 97-89. Harden made a three-point play with only 1:27 remaining in the game clock to make it 104-94.
Rodney Stuckey said that the Rockets executed pick and rolls very well. They did a good job of spreading the Pistons out. Harden only became part of the starting line-up seven times in the last three seasons in Oklahoma City Thunder, as he developed to be a significant player off the bench. On Wednesday night result, he seemed to be ready in his big role with the Rockets.
Harden said that he just wanted to be in the basketball court and play in the middle of talking and all the craziness that have been taking place last week. While Harden fell short to match or surpass his career high of 40 points, he posted a new career high in assists. This is not bad for a player that still adjusting to the system and players of the Rockets. Harden mentioned that he just tried to score and create opportunities. He commended the effort of Carlos Delfino who came in hot. "I just tried to get my bigs involved. A lot of different guys stepped up, and I think that's how it's going to be throughout this entire season" Harden said.
The Rockets played without Patrick Patterson, who was suffering from left quad strain.
