Josh Smith shines in Rockets debut

When the Houston Rockets picked up Josh Smith this week, they hoped he would have a positive impact on the team. One game in and he has certainly done that.

Behind Smith’s 21-point, eight-rebound performance, Houston prevailed 117-111 in overtime over the Memphis Grizzlies.

"When you're a professional, and you've played a lot of years, [joining a new team is] not that hard," Smith said, reports The Associated Press. "Especially since you know a lot of the guys in the locker room. They helped me out when I was kind of lost our there."

Houston had the first five points of the overtime period and never relinquished the lead.

Rockets shooting guard James Harden poured in a game-high 32 points and narrowly missed a triple-double posting 10 assists and eight rebounds.

For the Grizzlies, Marc Gasol led the way with 29 points and eight rebounds. Beno Udrih added 17 points.

Memphis, which is in the midst of a four-game losing streak, now falls behind Houston for first place in the Southwest Division.

"You've to go play,” Grizzlies coach Dave Joerger said, according to FOX Sports. “They are a good team. That's a dynamite team. We had a chance to win, kind of."

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