Rockets hold off Grizzlies in overtime thriller

The Houston Rockets got themselves off the hook Friday night, and escaped with a 117-111 overtime victory over the Memphis Grizzlies after blowing a nine-point lead with three minutes left in regulation. 

To be fair to the Rockets, there wasn't a whole lot they could've done when Vince Carter was pulling up from 30 feet out. 

But they weathered the late rally, and a clutch driving layup from James Harden knotted things up at 104-104 which sent the game to overtime. It was pandemonium in Memphis. 

In his first game as a Rocket, Josh Smith did some Josh Smith things, which included making some big-time plays down the stretch, and also airballing an ill-advised 3-point attempt. 

All jokes aside, Smith was rock solid off the bench, chipping in 21 points  and eight rebounds in 32 minutes, while posting a plus-15 rating. He also had a huge sequence late in overtime, with the Rockets clinging to a two-point lead, in which he grabbed two consecutive offensive rebounds in traffic, got fouled, and sank both of his free throws. 

Marc Gasol had a huge game for the Grizzlies, who were playing without Zach Randolph and needed every last one of Gasol's 29 points and every bit of his smothering defense on Dwight Howard to keep this one close. 

With under 30 seconds left in overtime, Howard had just four points. But on perhaps the game's deciding play, he turned back a potential game-tying Tony Allen attempt at the rim, corralled the loose ball, got hit, and, like Josh Smith before him, calmly hit two free throws to stretch the lead to two possessions. 

Smith is a 46.8 percent free-throw shooter on the season, while Howard is at 51.5 percent. Harden was the star of the game - he finished with 32 points, 8 rebounds and 10 assists - but those four free throws made all the difference. 

The loss was the fourth in a row for the Grizzlies (21-8), who have yet to win a game with Randolph sidelined. With the win, the Rockets (21-7) passed them for first place in the Southwest Division and third in the Western Conference.