JAMES HARDEN starred as the Houston Rockets edged the Portland Trail Blazers 108-103 in overtime after coach Kevin McHale was sacked earlier Wednesday.

    Hours after the unexpected firing of McHale, Harden shrugged off his slow start following his MVP runner-up season with 45 points, including all nine for Houston in overtime.

    “Making shots or missing shots, I’ve got to get my game where it needs to be to get this team where it wants to go,” Harden said. “Picking my energy up — tonight was the beginning of it.”

    Corey Brewer made an off-balance 3-pointer to force overtime and Harden took over from there, finishing with 11 assists, eight rebounds and five steals as the Rockets capped off an emotional day at the Toyota Center.

    It nearly ended with a fifth straight loss before Brewer made his shot with 0.9 seconds remaining to tie it at 99.

    “When somebody makes a shot like that, it can wake up everybody,” Brewer said. “If that shot changes the season around, I’m happy to make it, but now it’s time to start winning.”

    The Rockets played much of the game with sloppy mistakes and dreadful shooting. Interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff, son of longtime NBA coach Bernie Bickerstaff, served in his first game as head coach.

    “The way it happened is the way it needed to happen,” Bickerstaff said of the dramatic win. “Our guys were down, but for us to show perseverance, show fight, show the grit, toughness and togetherness speaks volumes.”

    The Blazers dropped their seventh straight, their worst losing streak since closing 2012-13 on a 13-game skid.

    “In the NBA, strange things can happen,” Portland coach Terry Stotts said. “We weren’t able to close it out, and Corey Brewer hits a one-legged runner from the logo, and that’s the way it goes.”

    Damian Lillard led Portland with 23 points, C.J. McCollum had 19 and Al-Farouq Aminu added 16.

    Houston snapped its longest skid since the 2012-13 season in its first game without McHale.

    “We’re going to miss him being around,” Dwight Howard said. “But we’ve got to still fight for him and try to win this championship. Things started out a little rocky, but we’re going to turn this thing around.”

    Howard hauled in 19 rebounds, Trevor Ariza had 18 points, and Brewer scored 16 off the bench.

    Rockets owner Leslie Alexander watched from the first row at midcourt as his seemingly uninspired team entered halftime in a 46-35 hole. The struggles continued and the Rockets ended the third with a 15-point deficit after Marcus Thornton’s jump shot wedged awkwardly between the rim and the backboard.

    Rockets 38-year-old point guard Jason Terry got his first start of the season, replacing struggling guard Ty Lawson, who was acquired from Denver in the offseason. Lawson finished the game with two points on 1-of-8 shooting.(SD-Agencies)