Houston, TX – Jeremy Lin paced Houston's red-hot shooting attack with 28 points to lead the Rockets to a 140-109 drubbing of the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday.
Lin made a game-high five 3-pointers for the Rockets, who tied an NBA record with 23 3-pointers. Houston finished 57.5 percent (23-for-40) from long range to pick up its fifth win in six games.
"I really didn't even know we had a chance to break the record until late in the game. We shoot a lot of threes. That's just what we do," said Rockets head coach Kevin McHale.
The Orlando Magic also hit 23 3-pointers during a 137-107 win over the Sacramento Kings in 2009.
James Harden and Chandler Parsons each knocked down four treys en route to 18 and 16 points, respectively.
The Rockets had several opportunities to make the record-setting 24th triple, but the Warriors repeatedly fouled Houston over the final minute.
Jarrett Jack scored 20 points and David Lee netted 18 points and pulled down seven rebounds for Golden State, which had a four-game winning streak snapped.
The Rockets held a slim 38-37 lead after the first quarter. Harden went 2- for-2 from beyond the arc and finished with 10 points in the frame.
Houston really opened things up in the second quarter after shooting a blistering 59.1 percent (13-for-22) from the floor to take a 77-62 lead into the break.
The Rockets went 14-for-18 (77.8 percent) from downtown through the first two periods.
Houston cooled off a bit in the third quarter, converting on just 9-of-21 field goal attempts and 4-of-9 from 3-point range, but still managed to eclipse the century mark and took a 104-86 advantage into the final frame.
Donatas Motiejunas canned the record-tying 3-ball from the right corner with 3:41 left in the game and the Rockets would get just two more attempts to set the record before the Warriors began to intentionally foul Houston down the stretch.
"We're not going to lay down. If you're going to try to get the record, we're going to stop it," said Warriors head coach Mark Jackson. "By no means are we going to accept giving up that many points. We didn't play particularly well, but that doesn't mean lay down and surrender. That's not in our DNA."
Things began to get heated in the closing seconds as Marcus Morris and Draymond Green were each ejected. Green was whistled for a Flagrant Foul Type 2 for a hard shot on Patrick Beverly, which led to a scrum resulting in Morris' ejection.
Game Notes
The Rockets 140 points were the most scored by one team in Toyota Center history ... Houston finished with 77 points in the first half. There have been 45 teams that gave scored fewer than 77 points in a game this season ... Nine Rockets players made at least one 3-pointer ... Carl Landry scored 12 points and Andrew Bogut and Richard Jefferson added 10 points apiece in the setback.
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