Rockets Succumb To Thunder In Game Three
HOUSTON (CBS Houston) Not only was thunder a powerful entity outside in Houston Saturday night, but it proved to overwhelm the Houston Rockets in playoff action inside the Toyota Center as well.
The Rockets hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder Saturday night in game three of the playoffs and lost with the final score being 104-101.
There seemed to be tremendous effort from both OKC and Houston as the Thunder's Kevin Durant scored impressive 41 points in his first game without injured OKC star Russell Westbrook,who is out for the remainder of the season, due to a knee injury.
Durant scored 27 points in the first half with the Thunder leading by 26 points before a big third-quarter rally by Houston.
Then Houston regained the lead the game with just about four minutes left. They were also up with less than a minute remaining; however, Durant's 3-pointer seconds later put Oklahoma City on top with the score being 100-99.
James Harden's turnover gave the Thunder the ball. Then Derek Fisher made two free throws widening the lead to three points. Harden went for the layup, but Reggie Jackson hit two more free throws after that.
Jeremy Lin, who suffered a bruised chest muscle in game two, began playing in Saturday's game and scored only two points in about 18 minutes. Chandler Parsons added 21 points for Houston, and Francisco Garcia had 18.
When it was all said and done, Harden lead the Rockets with 30 while Durant scored an impressive 41 points for Oklahoma City. The Houston Rockets' Twitter account perhaps best sums up Houston's game Saturday night with playoff action continuing next week:
"What a heartbreaker for the 2nd straight game. Rockets now trail series 3-0 with Game 4 on Monday night"
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) April 28, 2013
Game four will take place Monday night in Houston. With Saturday's win, Oklahoma City leads Houston for a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series. Click here to view highlights of Saturday's game.
