James Harden’s heroics saved the Houston Rockets. Harden had 35 points, including the game-winning jumper with 2.7 seconds left, and the Rockets took advantage of Stephen Curry’s absence for a thrilling 97-96 victory over the top-seeded Golden State Warriors on Thursday in Game 3 of their Western Conference first round playoff series. The Rockets pulled to within 2-1 with game 4 to held tomorrow.
Houston coughed up a 17-point cushion and trailed after Shaun Livingston stole a pass from Trevor Ariza and fed Ian Clark for a layup to put the Warriors ahead by one with 10.6 seconds left.
“Clark made the layup and I knew I had to get a bucket,” Harden said. “I had the confidence to go out there make a play and I did it.”  
Harden quickly raced up the other end and calmly buried a left-handed step-back jumper over Andre Iguodala for the difference-maker. “The last shot was typical of what James does,” Rockets interim head coach JB Bickerstaff said. “The move we’ve seen before, the finish we’ve seen before. You get spoiled by it at times but in the biggest moments you can’t help appreciate it.
“When he was coming across the court with nine seconds left we saw the confidence that he was going to get it done,” Bickerstaff added.  “Against a very good defender, he was able to get to his spot, get his shot and knock it down.”  
The defending NBA Champs still had a shot to complete the comeback but Draymond Green fumbled the ball off his foot and out of bounds. “He dropped the ball, it happens,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.  “Overall, it was a great effort by our guys to get back into the game and win it. We thought we’d find a way and we almost did.”
Donatas Montiejunas had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the eighth-seeded Rockets, while Dwight Howard contributed 13 points with as many boards.  

Oklahoma City Thunder 131, Dallas Mavericks 102
Kevin Durant dropped in 34 points, Russell Westbrook had 26 with 15 assists, and the third-seeded Thunder rolled the sixth-seeded Mavericks to grab a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference first round series.
Turkey’s Enes Kantner netted 21 points, while fellow-reserve Dion Waiters added 19 for visiting Oklahoma City, which shot a sizzling 58 per cent from the floor and knocked down a franchise-playoff record 15-of-27 triples to regain the home court advantage.
Wesley Matthews topped Dallas with 22 points, Ray Felton had 18 and Germany’s Dirk Nowitzki chipped in with 16 points despite a right knee bruise. Game 4 is tomorrow in Dallas.

Toronto Raptors 101, Indiana 85
DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry tossed in 21 points apiece, and the second-seeded Raptors regained home-court advantage after bouncing the host Pacers for a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.