James Harden keeps the Houston Rockets going

3:17 AM ET

HOUSTON — James Harden says he strives for the big moments because when you want to be a star in this league, you need to take over games.

With the season nearing a collapse, it was Harden who kept the Houston Rockets from falling into a hole where there appeared to be no escape.

Harden scored a game-high 35 points, including the go-ahead bucket with 2.7 seconds left, and extended the Rockets’ season until next week with a 97-96 heart-stopping victory over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night.

In a scatterbrained fourth quarter, it was Harden who made the biggest shot of the night. With his team down one and no timeouts, Harden calmly got the ball down court and nailed a step-back 10-footer as Andre Iguodala was late to close out.

The Toyota Center crowd erupted on the basket as they looked for something special from a team that had underachieved badly.

James Harden’s 35 points helped the Rockets edge out the Warriors in Game 3. Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports

“The last shot was typical of what James does,” interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “The move we’ve seen before, the finish we’ve seen before, the hold of the ball we’ve seen before. You do get spoiled by it. At times, in these moments, the biggest of moments, you can’t but help but appreciate it.”

After Harden hit the basket he was mobbed by his teammates. Even Dwight Howard held his hand out to slap five with his starting shooting guard.

Harden had disappeared as much as Howard had in this …

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