James Harden Notches Double-Double as Rockets Beat Spurs 102-91

There were no calls for an encore from the fans in AT&T Center, but James Harden delivered one anyway Thursday in a 102-91 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.

In his first game since his 60-point triple-double against the Orlando Magic, the Houston Rockets star bolstered his MVP candidacy with 28 points and 11 assists. The Rockets are 7-1 in their last eight games and stretched their advantage over the Spurs for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference to five games in the process.

San Antonio didn't have the firepower to counter Harden as Kawhi Leonard was still sidelined with a quad injury, but it received solid performances from LaMarcus Aldridge (16 points and eight rebounds) and Danny Green (22 points and six boards).

Even though the Rockets were without Eric Gordon (back) and Trevor Ariza (hamstring), the storyline heading into the contest was Houston's offense against the stingy Spurs defense.

Harden and Chris Paul were facing an uphill battle against the league's No. 2 team in defensive rating, per NBA.com, but the Arizona State product's ability to stop on a dime and fire from deep takes no prisoners, veteran Spurs included:

Even when San Antonio built momentum, it had no answer for the Beard. It trimmed the lead to eight in the second quarter after falling behind by double digits only to watch him re-enter and push it to 16 by halftime.

The Spurs also found themselves within seven with less than three minutes left before Harden drilled a three over Aldridge and converted a four-point play on Houston's next possession to ice it.

Harden's step-back put multiple Spurs in a spin cycle in one-on-one situations, and he had no issue getting to the rim and finishing or dishing to teammates:

For as great as the Spurs defense is, they miss Leonard in matchups against the game's elite. The two-time Defensive Player of the Year often guards playmakers such as Harden and LeBron James, helping the rest of the defense focus elsewhere. But nobody could consistently contain Harden on Thursday.

His brilliance took the pressure off Paul, who missed the last game with a groin injury. The point guard struggled to find his touch and started 2-of-10 but was aggressive when he needed to be with Harden on the bench in the fourth.

He hit three straight shots after the Spurs trimmed a 19-point deficit to six, giving the visitors some much-needed breathing room heading into the final minutes.

Elsewhere, Clint Capela added 14 points, 13 boards and five blocks while containing Aldridge for stretches, and Gerald Green scored 15 points behind three triples.

Even with multiple Rockets proving dangerous, the Spurs' early problem was offense rather than defense.

They scored a mere 14 first-quarter points and found themselves in comeback mode for the rest of the evening, running out of steam by the closing stretch. They also coughed up 16 turnovers and stalled extended positive stretches with sloppy play.

With Paul's harassment of ball-handlers and shooters on the perimeter and Capela's rim protection and timely double-teams on Aldridge, Houston's defense never let the home team get over the hump after the initial push.

Green did what he could by attacking the rim when the Rockets closed on his three-pointers, but he was the only Spur outside Aldridge to score more than 15 points.

The Spurs will look to turn things around Saturday when they face the Utah Jazz, while Houston turns its attention toward a showdown with James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on the same day.