Rockets rally for 10th straight win, stun Wolves in OT

MINNEAPOLIS — Even down double digits in the closing minutes, James Harden never gave up hope in his Houston Rockets.

With each win, the Rockets are making believers out of the rest of the NBA as well.

Harden scored 10 of his 28 points in overtime as Houston rallied from 12 points down with just over two minutes to play to win its 10th straight game, 111-109 over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night (Sunday in Manila).

Harden also had 13 assists and nine rebounds for the Rockets, who have not lost since Nov. 29. Ryan Anderson scored 28 points, and Eric Gordon finished with 20.

Houston trailed 93-81 with 2:04 to play, and still Harden told Anderson they were going to win. Anderson and Trevor Ariza hit two 3-pointers each in a 14-2 run.

"Yeah, I'm so confident in this team. I don't ever see us out of a game," Harden said. "We score the ball so easily, so well."

Karl-Anthony Towns had 41 points, 15 rebounds and five assists for Minnesota and Zach LaVine scored 24 points. But the Wolves turned the ball over 22 times and couldn't get a stop down the stretch to miss their chance for their first back-to-back wins this season.

"We just let one go, that's it," Towns said. "I let one go. We just have to move on to the next game and get ready."

One night after setting NBA records with 24 made 3s on 61 attempts, the Rockets started the game 7 for 29 from deep. But they found their range in the nick of time, hitting 10 of their final 22 3s, including five in the final 2:38 of regulation.

Anderson's first 3 of the game-winning surge splashed through with 2:03 to play, and his second cut the deficit to 95-92 with 33 seconds to go. Ariza, who missed eight of his first nine 3s in the game, hit one from the corner to tie it at 95 with 6.5 seconds remaining.

Harden opened OT with a 3, and then scored on two zig-zagging drives to the rim to put Houston in control and the Rockets withstood a late charge from Minnesota.

"We can't just let that happen," LaVine said. "We played too good of a game to let that slip through our fingers."

It was a big win for the weary Rockets, who overcame a slow start to improve to 4-0 on the second night of back-to-backs.

"There was a lot of points where I'm thinking, 'We're in trouble,'" coach Mike D'Antoni said. "The guys, that's where the chemistry comes in, and the will to win, the will to get things right and bounce back."