Rockets 115, Thunder 112: James Harden scored 10 of his 41 points in the final four minutes and visiting Houston survived a last-minute flurry to win its third straight.

Harden made 6-of-9 from 3-point range and added six assists and three steals for the Rockets, who pulled a game ahead of Memphis in the race for the second seed in the Western Conference. Dwight Howard had 22 points and eight rebounds, Josh Smith scored 14 off the bench and Trevor Ariza chipped in 12 to go along with nine boards as Houston survived 19 missed free throws in 50 attempts.

Russell Westbrook recorded his 11th triple-double of the season with 40 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds but missed two free throws that could have made it a two-point game in the final minute as Oklahoma City saw its lead over New Orleans for the eighth seed in the West reduced to a half-game. Enes Kanter finished with 21 points and 17 rebounds and Anthony Morrow made 6-of-8 from behind the arc en route to 22 points off the bench for the Thunder.

After Oklahoma City had a 20-7 run - capped by a Westbrook 3-pointer - to tie it at 100 with three minutes to go, Harden buried two huge 3s and a jumper to make it 108-101 with 1:25 left. Westbrook hit two from long range and Morrow had another - all in the final 62 seconds - but Houston hit 7-of-8 free throws and Westbrook had the two misses from the line before missing a long 3-point try at the buzzer.

Westbrook scored 12 points in the first quarter while his teammates combined to go 2-of-12 from the floor to help Houston build a 27-17 lead, but Morrow and D.J. Augustin had 3-pointers in the final minute of the second as Oklahoma City pulled within 55-47 at the break. It was a six-point gap after three quarters before Howard had consecutive hoops and Smith hit a fadeaway to put Houston up 93-80 with eight minutes to go.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Thunder SG Andre Roberson missed his seventh straight game with a sprained ankle. ... Westbrook has three triple-doubles with at least 40 points this season, the most since Michael Jordan in 1988-89. ... Harden has 10 40-point games, now second behind Moses Malone (12 in 1981-82) in franchise history for a single season.