Paul George scores 45 points as Thunder pull off 26-point comeback to edge Rockets in a thriller

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The Oklahoma City Thunder erased a 26-point deficit to beat the Houston Rockets 117-112 on the road on Saturday.

Paul George led the Thunder with 45 points and 11 rebounds, while Russell Westbrook extended his triple-double streak to nine games, tying Wilt Chamberlain (1968) for the longest triple-double streak in NBA history.

Despite a poor shooting night (8-of-21 FG), Westbrook finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, coming up with two clutch layups down the stretch.

With Westbrook struggling from the field, George took control, scoring 15 of his 45 points in the fourth quarter, going head-to-head with James Harden, who scored 42 points, extending his 30-plus point scoring streak to 29 games.

George connected on 12-of-22 from the field, 6-of-14 from three and 15-of-18 from the free throw line.


OKC started the game slow, commiting 11 turnovers in the first half, which led to 17 Rockets points as Houston took a comfortable 22-point half-time lead.

The message was clear at half-time and the Thunder responded, taking care of the ball as they slowly chipped away at the lead. They hit their first seven shots of the quarter and turned the heat up on the defensive end, outscoring the Rockets 42-20 in the third, with Dennis Schroder scoring the Thunder's final 11 points of the period to tie the game at 90-90 heading into the fourth.


Harden and George traded buckets down the stretch and after Westbrook's layup gave the Thunder the lead with 26.9 seconds left, Harden missed a 3-pointer, with George fouled as he got the rebound with 3.4 seconds left.

He drained both from the line to put OKC up three, with Houston turning the ball over on their final posession, leaving George to ice the game at the free throw line. 

Terrance Ferguson impressed with 15 points in the win, playing some impressive stretches of defence on Harden. Schroder added 17 points off the bench as OKC made it three wins in a row.

For Houston, Chris Paul fell one dime shy of a triple-double with 18 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, while Kenneth Faried posted a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

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Benyam Kidane Photo

Benyam Kidane is a senior NBA editor for The Sporting News.