HOUSTON — Russell Westbrook put up gaudy numbers on Wednesday night.
The Houston Rockets got a more modest performance from James Harden, but a collective scoring effort helped them rally for a 115-111 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder to take a 2-0 lead in the first-round Western Conference playoff series.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Harden said. “We didn’t make a lot of shots. We gave them the early lead and we had to fight our way back and we did. We didn’t give up. We continued to fight and grind and figure out a way to win.”
Harden scored 35 points and the Rockets overcame 51 points from Westbrook in the highest-scoring triple-double in playoff history. Westbrook set a franchise playoff scoring record and added 13 assists and 10 rebounds. It was the sixth career playoff triple-double for Westbrook, who had an NBA-record 42 in the regular season.
But he shot just 4 for 18 in the fourth quarter and the Rockets clawed back from a double-digit deficit.
He was not in the mood to talk about his statistics after the game.
“I don’t give a (expletive) about the line,” he said before glaring at reporters. “We lost.”
Thunder coach Billy Donovan thought Westbrook might have gotten tired late after playing the entire fourth quarter, but Westbrook brushed off that notion.
“Nah, I was all right,” he said.
Game 3 is Friday night in Oklahoma City.