Rockets Tie Franchise Win Record In Thursday Win

HOUSTON, TX — The Houston Rockets played one of their uglier basketball games of the season, but they still uglied out a win. The Rockets beat the Detroit Pistons, 100-96, in overtime Thursday night to improve to an NBA-leading 58-14 record — the only team that's won more than 80 percent of its games. The Rockets tied a franchise record Thursday for most games won in a regular season, and they lead defending NBA champion Golden State by four and a half games in the Western Conference.

The win total matches the 1993-94 team that went on to win the NBA title. With 10 games remaining in regular season, it's safe to say the Rockets will reach the 60-win plateau for the first time in franchise history, perhaps 65 games.

The Rockets are on their way to having home-court advantage throughout the playoffs — should they go all the way. James Harden leads the league in scoring at 31.0 points a game, has the best beard in the game and several players around the league have already dubbed him this year's MVP.

Thursday night was rather hard to watch, even in the win. Harden was 4-of-20 shooting with an un-Harden-like 21 points. He added eight rebounds and five assists. Eric Gordon led the Rockets with 22 points.

The Rockets return to the Toyota Center Saturday night to host the New Orleans Pelicans at 7 p.m. Houston will host four straight games, including Saturday against New Orleans, Atlanta on Sunday, Chicago on Tuesday and Phoenix on Friday — all games at 7 p.m. Houston visits San Antonio on Sunday afternoon before another three-game stand at home when they can wrap up home-court advantage.

Image: James Harden (13) of the Houston Rockets sits on the bench during play against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center on March 11, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)