Harden drops 37, leads Rockets to 1st win of season vs. Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder are no longer undefeated. The Houston Rockets are no longer winless.

Led by James Harden's 37 points, the Rockets (1-3) were able to escape the Toyota Center on Monday night with a narrow victory, defeating the Thunder 110-105.

Over his three previous outings, Harden, 26, had been disastrous shooting the rock, converting 22.2 percent of his attempts from the field and just 9.4 percent from 3-point range. That wasn't the case Monday, though, with the 6-foot-5 shooting guard drilling 12 of his 26 attempts, including 4-of-12 from behind the arc and 9-of-11 from the charity stripe.

He also chipped in five rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocks in 38 minutes of action.

Harden got a helping hand from fellow backcourt mate Ty Lawson, who was dealt to the Rockets this past offseason in a five-player trade. Lawson finished with his first double-double on the year, scoring 14 points and dishing out 11 assists.

A late 8-1 run in the fourth quarter gave the Rockets a 107-100 lead with less than two minutes remaining. Oklahoma City clawed back to cut the lead to just three at 108-105 with 44 seconds left on the game clock, but both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook failed to hit their respective 3-point attempts after a Harden miss, leaving the door open for Rockets center Dwight Howard to put the game away at the free-throw line.

Durant scored a team-high 29 points, while Westbrook barely missed a triple-double of 25 points, 11 assists, and eight rebounds.

The Rockets will look for a second consecutive win Wednesday when they host Victor Oladipo and the Orlando Magic, while the Thunder will return home to Chesapeake Energy Arena to host the Toronto Raptors.