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Parsons has career night as Rockets blast Knicks

Nov 24, 2012 - 5:28 AM Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Jeremy Lin dominated the headlines coming into Friday's game between Houston and New York, but Chandler Parsons stole the spotlight with a career-high 31 points on 13-of-17 shooting.

Parsons added five rebounds, four assists, four steals and a block in the Rockets' 131-103 victory over the Knicks.

Lin ended with 13 points, seven rebounds and one steal against his former team. Once on the brink of being out of the league, Lin became an overnight sensation in New York last season when he recorded at least 20 points nine times over a 10-game stretch from Feb. 4-20, a span in which the Knicks went 8-2 with a six-game winning streak. The undrafted Harvard product had his campaign cut short after 35 games (25 starts) due to a knee injury. The Rockets signed Lin to a three-year, $25 million offer sheet in the offseason. The Knicks opted not to match and Lin became a Rocket.

"I thought that this was one of Jeremy's better games. I thought he really played and attacked with a little swagger and that was good to see," Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said about Lin. "He has great teammates that always encourage him and his coaches encourage him. When he plays like that, he's fun to watch."

James Harden added 33 points and went 16-of-16 from the foul line for the Rockets, who have won six in a row against the Knicks.

Carmelo Anthony made seven 3-pointers en route to 37 points for New York, which has lost two straight for the first time this season. Raymond Felton donated 17 points and eight assists.

Lin scored Houston's first points of the game on a driving layup.

However, the first quarter turned into a scoring battle between Parsons and Anthony. Parsons' driving layup gave the Rockets a 20-9 lead with 6:43 left. Anthony responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to make it a five-point game.

Houston led by as many as 11 in the first stanza and took a 35-32 margin into the second. Anthony and Parsons each had 18 points over the first 12 minutes of action.

Holding a 51-50 lead midway through the second frame, the Rockets went on a 21-7 run. Harden and Parsons tallied eight and seven points, respectively, during the surge to give the home team a 72-57 margin at the half.

The Knicks cut their deficit to 83-73 early in the third quarter. However, Houston responded with a 13-0 spurt to make it a 96-73 contest.

The Rockets took a 104-80 lead into the fourth and cruised to victory from there.

"Tonight they beat us in every way you can beat a team. I know throughout the course of the year, a season, you have games like this, but it's not acceptable. We just weren't ready to play, and that's on me," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said.

Game Notes

New York has lost eight straight and nine of its last 10 at Houston ... The Rockets shot 51.7 percent from the field and went 14-of-25 from beyond the arc ... The Knicks shot 43 percent from the floor and went 17-of-39 from beyond the arc.