Houston, TX

Houston Rockets forward Chandler Parsons racked up 27 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists as his team averted a sweep by the Oklahoma City Thunder with a 105-103 win Monday.

Omer Asik chipped in with 17 points, Patrick Beverley added 16 points and Carlos Delfino dropped in 13 points.

James Harden scored 15 points but had 10 turnovers negated while point guard Jeremy Linwas out with a bruised chest muscle.

The Rockets led 29-24 after one quarter thanks to 5-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. They were still up by three points early in the second before Oklahoma City scored 12 straight points, fueled by seven from Kevin Durant.

That allowed the Thunder to take a 43-34 lead with 6:28 left before halftime.

Delfino swiped the ball from Durant and swished a 3 with 17 seconds left in the first half to cut the Thunder's lead to 60-53 at intermission.

Harden's three-point play was the start of a 12-2 Houston run capped by another three-point play -- this one by Delfino -- to extend the lead to 85-75 with about three minutes left in the third quarter.

Reggie Jackson dunked with 6:28 left cut Houston's lead to 98-94, and later hit a 3-pointer to bring the Thunder within 100-98 with 4:54 left. His 3-point attempt on the next trip down the floor rattled in and out of the basket.

The Rockets scored the next points courtesy of layups by Beverley and Parsons and a free throw by the latter to extend the lead to 105-98 with just 2:20 left.

After a Parsons turnover, Durant rushed the Thunder to within two at 105-103, first with a 3-pointer, then with a drive through the Rockets' defense and slam with 1:13 left.

For the next three Rocket possessions, Harden isolated outside, ran down the shot clock and missed jumpers, the first two from beyond the 3-point arc.

Beverley came up with a stop by sliding behind Omer Asik to draw a charge on Durant with 35.9 seconds left.

Then Francisco Garcia had Durant bottled up, causing the latter to give it up to Jackson.

Durant wanted to take a 3 for the win but could not get free to launch the shot.

"It seemed like he was going for (a 3-pointer)," Parsons said. "With that lucky bounce in the last game, we didn't want to give him a chance."

The Thunder had last chance attempts to close out the series but Reggie Jackson's runner and Serge Ibaka putback both missed.

Durant scored 38 points in Oklahoma City's second game without injured All-Star guard Russell Westbrook. Jackson finished with 18 points in his second start in place of Westbrook, and Kevin Martin added 16.

It was the Rockets first playoff win since 2009.

The first-round series goes back to Oklahoma City with the Thunder leading 3-1.

It was the Rockets first playoff win since 2009.

 

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