James Harden dunks in face of 7-footer Rudy Gobert

Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Reigning NBA MVP took flight and completed a nasty dunk in the face of Rudy Gobert during the Houston Rockets' win against the Utah Jazz.

Harden threw in the slam with about 4:30 remaining in the third quarter of the Rockets' 102-97 win on Monday at Toyota Center in Houston.

He began the play by dribbling against Ricky Rubio before switching onto Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell stepped up on Harden to defend, but "The Beard" flew around the Jazz star and dashed through the paint.

Harden took one step before elevating and coming up on a leaping Gobert. The 6-foot-5 guard lifted the ball up in his right hand as he made contact with the 7-foot-1 center. Harden completed the play by throwing the ball through the rim, nearly hitting "The Stifle Tower" in the face.

"I still got some juice in these legs," Harden told reporters. "So if there's bigs out there that want to keep testing ... no I'm just playing."

Harden's hoop gave the Rockets a 70-64 advantage. The six-time All-Star scored a game-high 47 points and had six rebounds, five assists and five steals in the win. Gobert had 18 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and three blocks for the Jazz. Mitchell led Utah with 23 points in the loss.

The Rockets host the Washington Wizards at 8 p.m. on Wednesday in Houston.