OKLAHOMA CITY: James Harden scored 31 points as Houston kept their NBA first-round play-off hopes alive with a 107-100 win over Oklahoma City in game five here Wednesday.
Playing against his former Thunder team-mates, Harden drained his first seven three-point attempts for the youthful Rockets who now trail the best-of-seven series three games to two.
“The guys are battling,” said Houston coach Kevin McHale. “You got to go out there and fight every single night.” Harden, who helped lead the Thunder to the NBA finals last season where they lost to the Miami Heat, shot just four-of-25 from three-point range in the first four games against Oklahoma City.
Houston played without starting point guard Jeremy Lin for the second straight game because of a bruised chest muscle.
But the Thunder missed all-star point guard Russell Westbrook even more Wednesday. Westbrook tore his lateral meniscus, underwent surgery and is done for the season.
The teams head back to Houston for game six of the Western Conference series on Friday.
The Rockets will be trying to make history in this series as no NBA team has ever come back from being down 3-0 to win a best-of-seven series.
Asik made 13-of-18 free throws as he helped keep Houston in control late in the fourth quarter with the Thunder looking to foul him at every opportunity.
The Thunder made just eight-of-33 from beyond the arc, losing for the second-consecutive game after winning the first three.
Kevin Durant was held scoreless in the fourth quarter and finished with 36 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Thunder.
Reggie Jackson — starting in Westbrook’s place — had 20 points, while Serge Ibaka finished with 14 points and nine rebounds in the loss.
Pacers 106, Hawks 83: David West scored 24 points and Paul George collected 21 and 10 rebounds as Indiana took a 3-2 lead over Atlanta in the best-of-seven series.
George Hill had 15 points and 10 assists and Roy Hibbert scored 18 for the Pacers, who have gone 3-0 at home in the series but will travel back to Atlanta for Game Six on Friday.
Josh Smith battled through foul trouble and ended up with 14 points as the Hawks shot 33.3 percent and struggled to maintain their composure in a physical battle.
Smith picked up two personal fouls and a technical within a minute in the third period before heading to the bench with the Hawks trailing by 11.
The Pacers pushed the lead to 68-48 before settling for an 81-67 lead heading into the fourth.
Celtics 92, Knicks 86: Jeff Green scored 18 points and Kevin Garnett added 16 and 18 rebounds as Boston staved off elimination from the playoffs for a second successive game.
Brandon Bass and Jason Terry both scored 17 points while Paul Pierce added 16 as the Celtics cut New York’s series lead to 3-2. Game Six of the best-of-seven series will be played in Boston on Friday.
Carmelo Anthony scored 22 points and Raymond Felton added 21 for the cold-shooting Knicks, who scored the first 11 points of the game before Boston eventually surged to a 45-39 halftime lead.
They Celtics led 88-76 with 2:24 to play before New York gave the home fans hope when Smith’s three-pointer capped a 7-0 spurt and cut the deficit to five with 65 seconds left.
Garnett, however, answered with a jumper and two free throws to ensure victory.
