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 ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Greg Monroe') has 13 Assists ,has 7 Field goals attempted ,has 30 Field goals made ,has 19 Free throws attempted ,has 8 Free throws made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Andre Drummond') has 16 Assists ,has 4 Field goals attempted ,has 12 Field goals made ,has 8 Free throws attempted ,has 21 Free throws made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Reggie Jackson') has 7 Assists ,has 16 Field goals attempted ,has 7 Field goals made ,has 17 Free throws attempted ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Terrence Jones') has 14 Assists ,has 7 Field goals attempted ,has 32 Field goals made ,has 17 Free throws attempted ,has 8 Free throws made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'James Harden') has 12 Assists ,has 21 Field goals attempted ,has 10 Field goals made ,has 18 Free throws attempted ,has 16 Free throws made ,has 1 Minutes played ,has 1 Offensive rebounds ,has 38 Personal fouls ,has 12 Points ,has 1 Total rebounds ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Corey Brewer') has 12 Assists ,has 7 Field goals attempted ,has 26 Field goals made ,has 15 Free throws attempted ."]