Harden scored 32 points — including 14 in the final quarter — as the Rockets prevailed 114-106 to improve their season record to 4-3.
Harden’s final quarter points spree rescued the Rockets, who had trailed 95-94 with just over seven minutes remaining in the game.
However Houston pulled away with a run of 12 points to lead 106-95 with 3:43 remaining.
Ryan Anderson chipped in with 23 points while Trevor Ariza added 15 points.
But D’Antoni was alarmed by the way his team had shipped points in the first and third quarters, conceding 30 and 36 points respectively.
“We had two really good defensive quarters and two really bad ones,” D’Antoni told reporters.
“We’ve got to smooth it out and keep working on it. We did enough to win. It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it.”
Nevertheless, D’Antoni is confident his team has the savvy to improve their defense.
“We’re not even close to where we need to be as a team,” he said. “But that’s good because we’ve got room for improvement and there’s no reason why we can’t keep improving.”
Harden meanwhile also backed the Rockets to tighten up their defensive game, as they managed to do in the decisive fourth quarter.
“That was the only way we’d have the opportunity to win, through our defense,” Harden said.
“First quarter we gave up 30 points, second quarter we gave up 17. We were just too inconsistent.
“But fourth quarter we did a great job of blocking in and playing harder. We’ll figure it out.
“We are going to make mistakes but we are going to have each other’s backs.”
The Rockets made 17 of 37 three-pointers and shot 51.9 percent from the field.
Both Anderson and Ariza sank three-pointers in the decisive stretch of the match.
For the Wizards, John Wall had 21 points and eight assists but was ejected with 33 seconds left following a second technical foul.
Bradley Beal and Otto Porter bagged 20 points for the Wizards, who fell to 1-5 with the loss.
Patience for Embiid
Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown called on fans to lower expectations about returning star Joel Embiid on Monday as the Cameroonian center works his way back from a long-term injury.
Embiid scored 14 points but the 7ft (2.13m) player’s contribution was not enough to stop the Sixers sliding to their sixth loss of the year, 109-84 to the Utah Jazz.
The Sixers (0-6), the worst team in the NBA last year with an abysmal record of 10 wins and 72 losses, are looking to Embiid, who has missed all of the last two seasons due to injury, to help transform the franchise’s fortunes.
But although Embiid has impressed in the games he has played in so far this year, Brown said it was easy to forget that the 22-year-old, the third pick overall in the 2014 draft, remained massively inexperienced.
“We all get excited, you know, that he’s going to come out from the get-go and be Joel Embiid and play like a poised veteran,” Brown said.
“But it’s just not fair, or true. There is a level of realization that we have to go through to wait and watch and make him grow.
“He’s still going to produce some of the numbers you see. But there are still lots of times where it’s clear he’s a young man who hasn’t played basketball for two and a half years.
“He’s finding his feet, all wrapped up in this big frame, with a hell of a lot of talent.”
Brown’s plea for patience however could not deflect attention away from another disappointing loss.
The Jazz were without George Hill (thumb injury) and Rudy Gobert, who fouled out after playing just 20 minutes. However even with those absences, Utah remained firmly in control with Gordon Hayward’s 20 points and 16 from Derrick Favors leading the way. Rodney Hood added 18 points as the Jazz improved to 5-3.
“I think (the victory) speaks to our depth,” Hayward said. “I think it speaks to our inner drive a little bit, because we have some expectations for ourselves this year. You’ve got to take care of these games.”
Jazz coach Quin Snyder said the club’s depth on the bench had been crucial. “They really picked it up,” he said. “That group of guys picked up the intensity on defense, and it carried over.”
source: interaksyon.com
