Harden rolling as Rockets visit Knicks

So much for James Harden's creaky ankle.

Harden became the first Houston Rockets player to score at least 40 points, dish out 15 assists, and grab at least five rebounds in a game when he posted 41-15-7 line in a 128-120 loss at Cleveland on Tuesday.

The veteran point guard has been playing through the ankle injury, but it hasn't slowed him down. He comes into Madison Square Garden averaging 32.2 points when the Rockets (2-2) face the New York Knicks on Wednesday in the second game of a five-game road swing.

Harden pulled the Rockets within three points with 1:08 left Tuesday, but Trevor Aziza and Eric Gordon both missed deep jumpers for Houston.

"You're playing against a team, especially on the road, and they make tough shots," Harden said. "They didn't miss the last five or six minutes of the game. Some shots we wanted to live with and some shots they just made. Good test for us."

Harden has been playing point guard in place of Patrick Beverley, who remains out after undergoing arthroscopic left knee surgery on Oct. 25.

Ariza left the Cleveland game in the third quarter after bumping heads with Tristan Thompson. Ariza needed five stitches before returning to the court with a bandage under his right eye.

The forward told the Houston Chronicle, "I think it was a head-butt, but it's all good. It's part of the game."

The game marks the return to the Garden for Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni, who guided the Knicks for 3 1/2 years before resigning 42 games into the 2011-12 season. Houston has won six straight at the Garden.

The Knicks (1-2) also will be playing their second game in as many nights after dropping a 102-89 decision to the Pistons in Detroit. Forward Carmelo Anthony paced the Knicks with 24 points, and Derek Rose added 19 points, his top total since coming over via a trade with the Chicago Bulls.

New York shot 40.7 percent from the floor in the loss.

"It just didn't go down tonight, but when the shots aren't falling, that's when we have to depend on our defense even more," Rose said. "We're playing against tough teams, and we have to come out and compete on the defensive end, especially when we're not making shots."

In a bad sign for the Knicks heading into the send half of a back-to-back set, coach Jeff Hornacek felt his team was fatigued late in the Tuesday contest.

"At the beginning of the game, a lot of the focus was on the offense," Hornacek said. "I thought (the Pistons) played well the second half, and maybe that took a certain amount of conditioning on offense and defense. ... We just looked like we ran out of gas at the end."

Rose added, "We have to build an identity and we will. All of this is a learning process. Figuring things out."

The Knicks lead the all-time series with the Rockets 70-67. Last season, the teams split their matchups, with the Knicks winning 107-102 at Houston and the Rockets earning a 116-111 overtime victory at New York.