CHRIS PAUL scored 25 points, James Harden had 23 points and 11 assists, and the Houston Rockets beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 122-112 Tuesday night for its 16th straight victory. The Rockets matched Boston for the longest win streak in the league this season and are on the second-longest win streak in franchise history. Harden was blunt when asked what those things meant to him. “Nothing,” he said. “Nothing at all. We just want to play well. We want to play well and have each other’s back, no matter what, on both ends of the floor. It doesn’t matter. Wins and losses will come.” Trevor Ariza scored 15 points and Eric Gordon added 14 for the Rockets. Russell Westbrook scored 32 points and Carmelo Anthony added 23 for Oklahoma City, which is in a logjam of teams trying to fight their way into third place in the West. Oklahoma City had beaten several of the league’s top teams this season. The Thunder have two wins over Golden State, a victory over Toronto and a win over Cleveland this season. The Rockets avoided that fate by going 17 of 33 on 3-pointers and 29 of 34 on free throws. “We’re so good offensively that every single night, teams are going to throw different coverages at us,” Harden said. “We’ve just got to figure out ways to attack them. Tonight was no different. Once we found something that we could go to, we used it. Guys got open shots and we just ride that wave out the entire game.” The Rockets led 54-45 at halftime as Harden posted 13 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Anthony had 19 points for the Thunder and Westbrook had 14, but All-Star Paul George went 1 for 7 from the field before the break. The Thunder closed the gap to three in the opening minutes of the third quarter, but the Rockets dominated the rest of the way and led 87-74 at the end of the period. Houston made 7 of 10 3-pointers in the quarter. Houston extended its lead to 19 midway through the fourth quarter. “When a team like that is making 3s, it’s tough out there because you’re always in a scramble situation,” Anthony said. (SD-Agencies) | 