The Houston Rockets defeated the New York Knicks, 129 - 122, at Toyota Center on Saturday. This has been the year of the triple - double, but there has n't been a performance like this in quite some time. James Harden accumulated 53 points, 16 rebounds and 17 assists on the way to his best game of his career. His game carried this offense to some gaudy numbers too, as they recorded 30 assists and went 21 - of - 55 from three - point range. There were no ties and only one lead change, as the Rockets never relinquished the lead after the second quarter. New York (16 - 17) had to play this game extremely shorthanded and they did a good job of hanging around against a potent Houston attack. Kristaps Porzingis sat this game out with an Achilles injury and Carmelo Anthony had to depart early due to renewed knee soreness. That put Brandon Jennings in the starting lineup and he did n't disappoint, as he led the team with 32 points, five rebounds and seven assists. Derrick Rose also played well, accumulating 21 points, five rebounds and seven assists. Joakim Noah recorded a 15 - point, 16 - rebound double - double in the loss. On deck for the Knicks is a home matchup against the Orlando Magic on Monday. Houston (26 - 9) have gotten some unbelievable performances from James Harden this season, but this one tops them all. Harden finished the game with 53 points, 16 rebounds and 17 assists in the best game of his career. Ryan Anderson helped him get those assists up, as he was second on the team with 25 points and six rebounds on 8 - of - 12 shooting. Montrezl Harrell got a rare start at center and amassed 13 points, four rebounds and four assists on 6 - of - 7 shooting. They'll look to keep rolling on Monday against the Washington Wizards.
["TeamStat(G,'Rockets') has 9 Losses ,has 129 Total points ,has 26 Wins ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Knicks') has 17 Losses ,has 122 Total points ,has 16 Wins ."]