National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Houston 120, New York 96
When: 8:00 PM ET, Thursday, January 8, 2015
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Officials: #31 Scott Wall, #42 Eric Lewis, #25 Tony Brothers
Attendance: 19812

Rockets 120, Knicks 96: James Harden scored 17 of his 25 points in the first half and Houston had no issues extending New York's franchise-record losing streak to 14 games.

Trevor Ariza scored 18 points and Donatas Motiejunas added 17 as the Rockets defeated the Knicks for the 11th straight time. Dwight Howard scored 11 of his 13 points in the third quarter and hauled in 10 rebounds for Houston, which shot 53.2 percent and made 16-of-36 3-pointers to cap a three-game road trip at 2-1.

Travis Wear scored a career-high 21 points and Langston Galloway also had a personal best with 19 points to pace New York, which has lost 24 of 25 overall. Fellow reserve Cleanthony Early collected 16 points as the Knicks bench outscored the starting five 70-26 in the squad's 11th straight setback at Madison Square Garden.

Houston led by as many as 10 points in the first quarter but was only up 30-28 early in the second before Harden fueled a 13-2 run with seven points and two assists. Harden hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the first half to give the Rockets a 56-42 advantage at the break.

Howard had back-to-back three-point plays to begin the scoring in the second half to push the margin to 20 points and Harden had another triple late in the period as Houston took a 93-69 lead into the fourth. The Knicks never got closer than 16 in the final stanza in falling to 1-15 against the Western Conference.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Knicks remained without F Carmelo Anthony (knee) and F Amar'e Stoudemire (knee), who have missed five and eight games in a row, respectively. ... New York made its first free throw roughly four minutes into the second half and finished 11-of-21 at the line. ... Gs Patrick Beverley and Jason Terry scored 14 points apiece for the Rockets, combining to make 7-of-11 3-pointers.
Top Game Performances
 
Houston   New York
James Harden 25 Scoring Travis Wear 21
James Harden 9 Assists Shane Larkin 5
Dwight Howard 10 Rebounds Cleanthony Early 6
James Harden 6 Free Throws Made Langston Galloway 4
Donatas Motiejunas 4 Steals Shane Larkin 4
Josh Smith 2 Blocks Travis Wear 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Houston 120 53.2 16-36 22-32 25 36 5 14 19
New York 96 46.2 11-26 11-21 22 38 1 12 21
Upcoming Games
  • New York will play their next game at home against Charlotte. The Knicks have a W/L % of .200 after a win and .118 after a loss.
  • Houston will play their next game at home against Utah. The Rockets have a W/L % of .680 after a win and .727 after a loss.