MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Two layups by James Harden in the final 40 seconds Wednesday brought Houston from behind to an 87-84 victory over Minnesota.
Harden scored Houston's final six points and had 17 of his 30 in the fourth period while boosting the Rockets to their fifth consecutive win.
Houston went in front by a point with 2:14 to play when Harden drove to the basket and produced a layup, but the Timberwolves regained the advantage 20 seconds later on a layup by Andrei Kirilenko.
Harden then hit a running layup with 39 seconds left to put the Rockets ahead again and, after Houston's Jeremy Lin stole the ball from J.J. Barea, Harden hit another layup for a three-point lead.
Minnesota's Alexey Shved missed a 3-point attempt in the final second that would have forced overtime.
Houston trailed by as many as 14 points in the third period. Chandler Parsons added 12 points for the Rockets and Carlos Delfino had 11.
Barea led Minnesota with 18 points while Kevin Love hit just 3-of-14 from the field and scored only seven points. Love had missed the previous game with an eye injury.
