Harden’s crossover floors opponent before three-pointer in stunning NBA play

The Houston Rockets really didn’t need an exclamation point to their dominating first quarter Wednesday night. James Harden provided one anyway.

The Rockets had already blown past the Clippers when Harden juked Wesley Johnson so badly, the defender stumbled and fell flat to the floor. Harden stared down at him for several seconds before calmly drilling a three-pointer to give Houston a 31-7 lead.

Houston’s 14th consecutive victory was in hand early and the Rockets went on to win 105-92. Harden scored 17 of his 25 points in the first quarter, but claimed he wasn’t trying to humiliate the floored Johnson.

“I was just trying to figure out what he was doing,” Harden said. “I didn’t know. I was looking at him and he was looking at me. I was thinking, ‘What are you doing?’ I was going to shoot it, but I was waiting to figure out what was going on. I was confused. And then I shot it.”

He added: “It felt good, been in my bag all year. Just one of those moves where I had to make him dance a little bit.”

The Rockets (48-13) matched their longest winning streak of the season and remain a half-game ahead of Golden State for the NBA’s best record. Harden is averaging 31.6 points per game this season.

Meanwhile, the door in Houston’s locker room that led to the corridor used by several Rockets to enter the Clippers room after their previous meeting was covered with yellow tape on Wednesday. The tape read: “Do Not Enter. CAUTION.”