When the Houston Rockets were denied their protest of a recent game against the San Antonio Spurs in which a James Harden dunk was incorrectly ruled offensive interference, the league's explanation was that the Rockets "had sufficient time to overcome the error during the remainder of the fourth quarter and two subsequent overtime periods." In a sense, that was proven true on Monday as the Rockets, who trailed the Spurs by as many as 25 points in their first matchup since the dunk incident, managed to come from behind for a 109-107 win with nothing but the time allotted on the clock. 

James Harden and Russell Westbrook keyed the comeback with 59 combined points, and the Rockets made team history by hitting 11 3-pointers. That made this game the 83rd consecutive matchup in which the Rockets hit at least 10 shots from behind the arc. The Spurs, meanwhile, only managed to put 35 points on the board in the second half after scoring 72 in the first half. Overall, it was the largest comeback in franchise history for the Rockets. 

The animosity between the two sides was palpable. The wounds of their most recent matchup are still fresh, and things got heated between Harden and DeJounte Murray during a first-half scuffle. 

The Spurs had plenty of chances to tie the game in the final stretch. Bryn Forbes missed a potential game-tying shot with 10 seconds remaining, but Clint Capela turned the ball over after getting the rebound. P.J. Tucker fouled Derrick White with only 2.7 seconds remaining to give him two free throws with the Spurs down three, but had he been quicker, White likely would have been able to get the game-tying attempt off. When he missed the second shot intentionally, Houston got the rebound and sealed the victory. 

Unfortunately for fans of this rivalry, it will be quite some time until these teams meet up again. The Rockets and Spurs have already played twice, and their two final matchups come on April 8 and April 12. Given the existing distaste between these two Texas franchises and the heat the Harden situation added, those two games should be very fun provided both teams still have something to play for.