The Houston Rockets (41 - 20) defeated the Detroit Pistons (23 - 37) 103 - 93 on Friday. James Harden put the Rockets on his back, recording a triple - double in his second game back from his one - game suspension. The MVP-candidate put up 38 points on 10 - of - 21 shooting, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists, leading his team in each category. Harden also shot 16 - of - 18 from the free throw line. Terrence Jones (back) played his usual amount of minutes despite being listed as questionable coming into Friday's game. Jones continued his solid play in Dwight Howard's (back) absence, recording 17 points on 7 - of - 14 shooting and eight rebounds in 32 minutes. Corey Brewer was the only other Houston player to score in double figures, scoring 15 points on 7 - of - 12 shooting in 26 minutes off the bench. The Rockets now find themselves as the four - seed in the Western Conference and are just 3 games behind the Grizzlies for the two - seed. They will next travel to Denver on Saturday to take on the Nuggets. Greg Monroe lead the way in Detroit's losing effort, recording 19 points on 7 - of - 13 shooting and eight rebounds in 30 minutes. Andre Drummond struggled from the field, managing just eight points on 4 - of - 16 shooting, but managed to grab a game - high 21 rebounds with 12 of them coming on the offensive glass. Reggie Jackson was the only other Pistons player to score in double figures, recording 17 points on 7 - of - 16 shooting and seven assists. The Pistons, now losers of five straight games, are falling fast. They are four games out of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference and will head back home on Sunday to go up against the Charlotte Hornets.
["TeamStat(G,'Rockets') has 103 Total points ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Pistons') has 93 Total points ,has 12 Turnovers ."]