James Harden, Rockets rout Spurs in Game 4, tie series at 2-2

HOUSTON – James Harden was down.

All the progress his Houston Rockets had made, finally figuring out these San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 on Sunday night like they had in the one-sided Western Conference Semifinals series opener, and it looked for a minute as if they had suffered a devastating blow in the third quarter of their 125-104 win.

The collision on the wing with Spurs point guard Patty Mills sent Harden to the floor, clutching his knee as he called timeout. The locals grew more nervous with every second that he didn’t rise, only to hope for the best when he finally walked off on his own power. Some 90 seconds later, the man who made this whole surprise season possible for these Rockets was burying a three-pointer over Pau Gasol and sending this series back to San Antonio tied 2-2.

Harden was special in this one, and not in the kind of way that the box score can tell you about. He had 28 points, 12 assists, and five rebounds – a Harden line if ever there was one. But he did it in the kind of relentless way that it will take to get these Spurs to succumb, forcing the tempo early and executing the Rockets’ vaunted offense in the sort of calculated fashion that had been missing these past two games.

"I think our energy was just up the entire game no matter what," Harden said. "They went on runs, they cut the deficit down, but just no matter what, we stayed with it."

As is always the case with these launching Rockets, it certainly helped that their long-range game was on point again. Eric Gordon had 22 points off the bench, including six of nine from three-point range. Houston hit 19-of-43 threes in all (44.2%), the kind of rate that no defense alive can bear. Point guard Patrick Beverley, who played just hours after learning that his grandfather had passed away, had a poised and pivotal 10 points and six assists.

The Spurs, who were led in scoring by a reserve in Jonathon Simmons who averaged 6.2 points per game during the regular season, sputtered from the start. Simmons had 17, while Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge had 16 points apiece.

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The Rockets were rolling early, when Beverley buried a three-pointer to spark the start and a Nene steal and layup put them up 27-12 just eight minutes in. In between, they’d managed to fix much of what ailed them in Games 2 and 3.

Their pace had improved, with Houston taking full advantage of six Spurs turnovers and tallying 13 fast break points in the first quarter alone. In the past two games, they had just nine and 13 fast break points, respectively.

"(Those 13 first-quarter fast break points) definitely helped. Most the time, when you get beat or you do something screwy, you come back with a better effort. We did that," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. " ... We'll keep pushing it because that's what we do. That's how we get threes. No matter what scheme they have defensively, you don't have a scheme in transition."

Harden was aggressive in the kind of way that is simply a must against these Spurs, either finishing at the rim (eight points) or finding his teammates on the wings (five assists). Houston had 22 points in the paint to the Spurs’ six. It all added to a 34-22 edge entering the second.

But the Spurs returned to form, with Leonard (five-of-seven shooting for 11 points and three assists) answering and San Antonio’s league-best defense finally arriving (the Rockets scored just 23 points and missed 12-of-21 shots. The Rockets led 57-53 at halftime.)

But as was the case in the first quarter, Beverley got them going again at the start of the third. After a Gasol layup cut the lead to two, another Beverley three-pointer sparked a 16-4 run that put the Rockets up 73-59. And Harden, amid the knee scare that ultimately proved to be a false alarm, had his hands all over the run.

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Sam Amick on Twitter @Sam_Amick

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