It was not the greatest of wins but the Houston Rockets will take it as they defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in overtime 108–103 to end a four-game losing slide under interim head coach J. B. Bickerstaff.
Before the game against Portland, the Rockets organization decided to relieve former head coach Kevin McHale because of the team's bad start this 2015–16 season.
The current season is already McHale's fifth with Houston but changes had to be made and he was the first one to go.
Despite the firing of McHale, the Rockets managed to win and were led by All-Star guard James Harden who had a double-double. Harden had 45 points and 11 assists, also having eight rebounds, five steals, and one block in 47 minutes of action.
Helping him were veterans forward Trevor Ariza and reserve guard Corey Brewer who scored 18 and 16 points, respectively.
Former All-Star center Dwight Howard only had seven points but grabbed 19 rebounds and also had two assists, one steal, and three blocks.
The Rockets were behind by three points and were about to suffer another defeat until Brewer hit an off-balanced three-pointer to send the game to overtime.
In the extra period, Harden took over and scored all of Houston's nine points to seal the victory.
"The way it happened is the way it needed to happen. Our guys were down, but for us to show perseverance, show fight, show the grit, toughness and togetherness speaks volumes," Bickerstaff stated, according to the Associated Press.
Wednesday's win over the Trail Blazers gave the Rockets a 5–7 record for the 10th spot in the Western Conference standings.
Up next for the Rockets is a road trip taking on the Memphis Grizzlies today, Friday, before a three-game home stand which will begin this Saturday against the New York Knicks.
Following the Knicks, Houston will have a rematch with the Grizzlies on Nov. 25 before hosting the Philadelphia 76ers on Nov. 27.
