James Harden finally slapped on the exclamation point he spent the final minutes searching for. He hit Dante Exum with a crossover dribble, then another and another, until Exum stumbled backward and Harden put in a long 3 for Saturday's clincher.
The Toyota Center crowd roared. Harden did his mix-it-up pantomime, something he has rarely broken out this season. The Rockets' 111-102 win against the Utah Jazz was certain.
The Rockets pulled away, however, because of far less flashy bursts of scoring around him.
After Harden carried the Rockets early when his teammates missed, they carried him in the fourth quarter when things got tight, with Eric Gordon and Clint Capela each finishing with 20 points, Capela getting his career-high in a matchup with fellow former French League star Rudy Gobert, one of the league's top defensive centers.