Over two months ago, the Houston Rockets needed all 61 of James Harden's points to eke past the New York Knicks.
With three games remaining before the postseason, the Rockets hope they will not need that many points from Harden Friday night when they host the league-worst Knicks.
The Rockets (51-28) enter Friday in third place in the Western Conference with four straight wins and 18 wins in their last 21 games since Feb. 21. Houston is a 1 1/2 games behind second-place Denver, a half-game up on fourth-place Portland and 2 1/2 ahead of fifth-place Utah.
While the Rockets are hosting the Knicks, they will be monitoring the out-of-town scoreboard, as Denver hosts Portland and Utah hosts Sacramento.
They will hope to be doing so after taking care of business, rather than holding on for a 114-110 win over the league's worst team. That was the outcome of Houston's last game against the Knicks on Jan. 23, when Harden posted a career high and tied the record held by Kobe Bryant for the most points by an opposing player at Madison Square Garden. >> Read more
Copyright 2019 by the Associated Press