Rockets guard Marcus Thornton scored 18 points off the bench on Tuesday, more than in the previous four games he played combined. His scoring was not unusual. He has topped 15 points in a game 11 times this season. He did play more than usual with James Harden after generally playing as Harden's backup.
"I was talking about that this morning," Thornton said. "I love playing with James. Teams are more fo-cused on him. That gives me wide-open shots. In return, I can play-make for him and get him wide-open shots, too. Because teams are so locked in on him, any easy buckets he can get is great for him.