Dwight Howard in action for the Houston Rockets.
May 17, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard (12) is fouled during the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers in game seven of the second round of the NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the Clippers 113-100 to win the series 4-3. Reuters/Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

James Harden’s best game of the Western Conference semi-finals, Dwight Howard’s double-double helped the Houston Rockets beat Los Angeles Clippers 113-100 to complete an incredible comeback series win on Sunday after being 3-1 down. Only eight teams had previously come back from such a deficit in NBA history, and the Rockets became the ninth team to do so. They will now face the Golden State Warriors in the West Finals.

The Rockets came out strong in Game 7 and had built up a seven point lead by the end of the first quarter and 56-46 by halftime. James Harden scored 12 of his 31 points in the first quarter and made 15 of 18 free throws. He also came up with seven rebounds and eight assists to lead the Rockets.

Dwight Howard scored 15 points and 16 rebounds for Houston, the 15th career playoff double-double. The Clippers came as close as 56-60 in the third quarter on a 9-0 run set up by Chris Paul, who contributed 5 points and four assists in the space of just over three minutes. The Rockets however went on an 11-4 run to again pull away. By the end of the third, they had a 17 point lead, with the score at 68-85. The Rockets then closed out the game comfortably with the Clippers coming closest in the final two of the minutes when they cut the deficit to eight. Trevor Ariza buried a three pointer to snuff out any chance of a comeback.

Three Clippers had double-doubles. Blake Griffin led with 27 points and 11 rebounds while Chris Paul had 26 points and 10 rebounds. De Andre Jordan had 16 points and 17 rebounds while Matt Barnes failed to score in 22 minutes of action. Trevor Ariza had 22 points for the Rockets going six of 12 on three-point shooting and Josh Smith pitched in with 15 points.

"When you're down 19 on the road, it's easy to give in and just say, 'Maybe next year.’ But I think the injuries throughout the entire year kind of made us fight through adversity no matter what. We always find a way to fight, and another case was being down 3-1," said James Harden to ESPN after the game.

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