HOUSTON — His teammates had appeared to check out, with their sights clearly set on warmer environs to spend the all-star break. But Trevor Ariza was there to remind the Washington Wizards they still had one more game to play; that the work wasn’t done until they left Toyota Center.
Ariza matched his previous career high of seven three-pointers in one quarter and made a team-record 10 for the game en route to 32 points. The problem for the Wizards was Houston’s James Harden, who scored 35 points — including the final three of the game to send the Wizards into the break with a 113-112 defeat.
Ariza’s effort had the Wizards up 112-110 with four seconds left and Houston set to inbound at halfcourt. But Ariza got tangled up with Harden, Houston’s all-star guard, before the ball came into play. The Rockets were awarded a free throw and the ball. Harden made the free throw, then stutter-stepped through the lane for a layup with 0.7 seconds remaining as the Wizards were sent into the break with a 25-27 record.
John Wall had 19 points and 14 assists, with nine coming in the third quarter, when the Wizards went on a rampage. The night before, Wall missed an errant three-pointer as time expired as the Wizards wasted a career-high 37-point effort from Bradley Beal in Memphis. With the game tied in the closing seconds, Wall let the clock melt down, then drove around Rockets forward Chandler Parsons to draw a foul. He went to the foul line and made two free throws, the Wizards’ final points.
Ariza’s three-point barrage actually started shortly after getting a layup blocked by Dwight Howard. Jeremy Lin hit a floater on the other end. Howard then caught a pass from Harden and threw down an alley-oop dunk. Howard then blocked a jumper by Beal, setting up a fastbreak layup by Parsons that put the Rockets up, 83-65.
The Wizards could take some comfort in knowing that they had been able to come back from a large deficit against Houston. When the teams met last month at Verizon Center — where the game was twice interrupted by a leaky roof — the Wizards turned a 25-point deficit into a five-point lead but didn’t have enough for the finish.
Before the Rockets could get comfortable on Wednesday, Ariza — a former Rocket who was dealt one year after signing a five-year, $34 million contract in 2009 — got hot and started hitting from beyond the arc. The Rockets led by 14 when reserve Donatas Montiejunas made a three-pointer, but the Wizards finished the period on an 11-0 run. Marcin Gortat made a foul line jumper, then Ariza knocked down two three-pointers before Wall finally got involved and made another to bring the Wizards within 93-90.
Washington took the lead Beal stole a pass from Howard and found Wall, who converted a three-point play to put the Wizards ahead, 110-108.
Nene scored 21 points put fouled out with 1 minute 42 seconds remaining, forcing the Wizards to finish the game without their two starting big men after Gortat had fouled out earlier.
Kevin Seraphin, who entered the game for Gortat, fouled Harden and he made two free throws to tie the game. Without a rim protector or the Wizards’ best perimeter defender in Ariza on the floor, Harden saw no impediment on his trip to the lane for the decisive basket.
Harden went 16 for 16 from the line. The Wizards had 16 free thow attempts as a team.
Coach Randy Wittman didn’t utilize Otto Porter Jr. on Tuesday, when family, friends and his high school coach drove down to watch him play. But with Martell Webster battling through a sprained left ankle, the rookie received some minutes against the Rockets – but probably not the kind he would’ve liked in the first half. After Wall made two free throws to bring the Wizards within 57-52, Wittman had Porter intentionally foul Howard, a notoriously poor free throw shooter.
The strategy often backfires for the Wizards, as it did last month in Los Angeles, where Clippers center DeAndre Jordan made six free consecutive free throws late in the game. Porter fouled Howard twice and he made four free throws in a row after starting the game 1 of 5 from the foul line.
Harden added two more free throws to make sure that the Rockets were also able to enter the locker room with a 63-54 lead. He matched his season average of 23 points after two quarters.
