With his bench scoring less than any in the NBA, Mike D'Antoni decided it was time to give it a jolt. Or something like that.
He took his best bench scorer, Eric Gordon, and made him a starter.
With that, everything – from the way the night against the Trail Blazers was going to the struggles along the way -- changed. Gerald Green nailed 3-pointers. Danuel House Jr. finished slams. Nene, who had played just one game in Toyota Center this season, was everywhere until he emptied everything from his tank.
With the kind of depth that the Rockets had rarely enjoyed this season, the Rockets turned a 15-point deficit into a 17-point lead and held on to snap their three-game losing streak with a
James Harden led the Rockets with 29 points while Chris Paul had a triple-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.