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Rockets outlast Nuggets in OT

Apr 7, 2014 - 3:55 AM Houston, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - James Harden scored 15 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter and overtime to go along with 10 assists as the Houston Rockets dispatched the Denver Nuggets, 130-125, on Sunday.

Chandler Parsons scored eight points in the extra session and finished with 15 for the Rockets, who clinched a playoff berth in Friday's win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Jeremy Lin posted 19 points and Omer Asik recorded a season-high 18 points with a season high-tying 23 rebounds in the win.

Evan Fournier paced Denver with 26 points off the bench and Aaron Brooks tallied 24 points against one of his former teams in the setback, the Nuggets' sixth straight on the road.

The road losing streak matches the longest in the franchise's history since Dec. 8-28, 2009.

Kenneth Faried deposited a 16-point, 13-rebound double-double for Denver.

Fournier bookended an 11-0 run with a pair of 3-pointers and capped the spurt with just under 6 1/2 minutes left in regulation to give the Nuggets a 106-95 lead.

Parsons answered with a three-point play and Denver then stretched its lead to 114-101 following a Brooks jumper a couple of minutes later.

Harden proceeded to score 10 points in the final 3:55 of the fourth as part of a 16-3 quarter-closing run to help force overtime.

Randy Foye split a pair of free throws to push the Nuggets margin to three, 117-114, before Harden tied the game with 7.1 seconds left.

Harden received the inbound pass, shook his shoulders to gain separation from Foye, took one dribble to his right and knocked down a high-arching 3 from the top of the key.

"Well we battled," said Rockets coach Kevin McHale. "We were not ready starting that game off. Our guys kept battling and James (Harden) made the huge 3 to get it to overtime, but other than that we were shaky."

Fournier nailed a 3 early in the extra session to give the Nuggets a 122-121 edge. Francisco Garcia followed with a trey before Parsons buried back-to-back triples for an eight-point spread with just under two minutes left in overtime.

Houston didn't score the rest of the way, but by that point Denver was out-of- sorts and couldn't muster a comeback after the dagger 3s.

"I don't think I've seen something quite like that," said Nuggets coach Brian Shaw. "We came out in the third quarter and absorbed their lead and tied it up and then went up double digits ourselves and we had a 14-point lead. But then, we started to play not to lose."

Earlier, Denver led 27-22 after the first quarter. Houston, however, ripped off a season-high for points in a quarter with 47 and led 69-52 at the break.

Harden's jumper made it a 10-point game with just over a minute left in the second before Lin scored the final seven points of the half, including a 3 at the buzzer.

It was the Nuggets' quarter in the third as they outscored the hosts 36-19 in the frame to tie the game at 88-apiece entering the fourth.

Game Notes

Houston allowed a season-high 34 second chance points to the Nuggets ... Isaiah Canaan recorded a career-high 15 points off the bench in the win ... The Rockets' largest lead was 17, while Denver held a 14-point advantage as their high for the contest ... There were 10 ties and 10 lead changes ... Patrick Beverley (knee) and Dwight Howard (ankle) each missed their fifth consecutive game for Houston ... The Rockets scored 27 points off 21 Denver turnovers, while the Nuggets registered 25 points off 15 Houston giveaways.