Where: The Field House, Orlando, Florida
Officials: #71 Rodney Mott, #42 Eric Lewis, #19 James Capers
Attendance: N/A
James Harden scored a game-high 31 points, Robert Covington made a career playoff-high six 3-pointers and the Houston Rockets welcomed back All-Star guard Russell Westbrook with a 114-80 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of their Western Conference first-round series in The Field House at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando.
Houston will advance to the Western Conference semifinals with a victory in Game 6 Monday.
Harden shot 11 of 15, including 4 of 8 on 3-pointers, while adding five assists. He had little trouble scoring on Thunder guard Luguentz Dort, who gained renown for his rugged defense against Harden in Games 2-4. Dort struggled offensively as well, missing 13 of 16 shots while going 0-for-9 from behind the arc as Houston offered uncontested looks by design.
Westbrook made his return from a right quad strain and posted seven points, six rebounds and seven assists over 24 minutes in his first action of the series. Covington tallied 22 points on 6-of-11 3-point shooting and Eric Gordon chipped in 20 points as part of a strong two-way effort.
The Rockets turned a three-point halftime lead into a blowout victory with a 19-2 run that opened the third quarter.
The Thunder had their slim hopes dashed at the 6:51 mark when reserve guard Dennis Schroder earned an ejection following a confrontation with Rockets forward P.J. Tucker, who was also tossed. Schroder paced the Thunder with 19 points, including 11 consecutive points during the second quarter as part of an 11-3 Thunder run to the lead.
Schroder single-handedly turned a 33-28 deficit into a 39-36 lead with his stretch of dominance. But Harden, Gordon and Covington combined for a 10-0 run that pushed the Rockets back in front, and when Houston opened the second half with an 8-0 blitz, the Thunder had no response.
Chris Paul chipped in 16 points and six rebounds for the Thunder, who received a double-double (12 points, 14 rebounds) from Steven Adams. Oklahoma City shot just 31.5 percent overall and missed 39 of 46 3-pointers.
--Field Level Media
| Oklahoma City | Houston | |
| Dennis Schroder 19 | Scoring | James Harden 31 |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 4 | Assists | Russell Westbrook 7 |
| Steven Adams 14 | Rebounds | Jeff Green 10 |
| Darius Bazley 4 | Free Throws Made | James Harden 5 |
| Danilo Gallinari 1 | Steals | Robert Covington 3 |
| Hamidou Diallo 2 | Blocks | Jeff Green 1 |
| Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
| Oklahoma City | 80 | 31.5 | 7-46 | 15-23 | 11 | 58 | 8 | 3 | 18 |
| Houston | 114 | 43.0 | 19-48 | 9-14 | 28 | 55 | 3 | 12 | 11 |
- Houston will play their next game on the road against Oklahoma City. The Rockets have a W/L % of .644 after a win and .556 after a loss.
- Oklahoma City will play their next game at home against Houston. The Thunder have a W/L % of .591 after a win and .643 after a loss.