Friday's NBA schedule included a battle between the Houston Rockets and Charlotte Hornets. The home team was unable to contend with the Western Conference contender as last season's NBA MVP finalist finished with a triple-double. James Harden led his team to a double-digit victory on Charlotte's home court, despite a double-double from Dwight Howard and top scoring performance from Kemba Walker. Here's the latest Rockets vs. Hornets game recap with a look at top performers, stats for the game, latest standings updates, and what games are next for these teams.

HOU vs. CHA recap

In tonight's contest, the home team opened with a 30-27 advantage after the first quarter, but Houston surged ahead in the second after a 29-16 quarter. Charlotte outscored Houston 28-22 in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Rockets took over with a 31-19 finish to take the game 109-93.

Guard James Harden led the way for the Houston Rockets in the win with 27 points on 8-for-18 shooting. He also had 11 assists and 10 rebounds to grab a triple-double tonight. Eric Gordon, who was the big hero in Houston's win over Philadelphia recently, finished with 26 points in the game. Ryan Anderson had a 7-for-16 shooting night to finish with 21 points, along with his six rebounds.

The Rockets only had three players on the bench due to multiple injuries, with PJ Tucker scoring nine points and collecting 13 rebounds.

The Charlotte Hornets got 26 points from All-Star Kemba Walker who shot 8-for-22 overall and hit four of the six threes he took. Walker also dished out five assists. Dwight Howard tallied a double-double with 19 points and 16 rebounds, while Jeremy Lamb finished with 20 points on 8-for-16 shooting.

Malik Monk continues to be a bright spot off the Charlotte bench as the rookie recorded 10 points tonight in the losing effort.

It was a decent shooting night for the Rockets who were 44.7 percent overall and 38.6 percent from long range. Charlotte hit shots at a rate of 37.5 percent and 37.9 percent from beyond the arc. Houston won the battle of the boards 51-44 and won the game despite having 15 turnovers compared to just nine for the home team.

Standings & next games

The Houston Rockets are now 5-1 overall and 4-0 on the road. They'll be on the road again on Saturday night when they take on the Memphis Grizzlies starting at 8 PM eastern time.

For the Charlotte Hornets, this loss brings their record to 2-3 overall and 2-1 on the road. Charlotte will try to bounce back on Sunday when they host the Orlando Magic starting at 6 PM Eastern time.
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