HOUSTON -- Eric Gordon's night was another reason the Houston Rockets signed him in free agency this summer.

Gordon was electric Wednesday. He scored 26 points off the bench as he set a career high with eight made 3-pointers, which also set the franchise record for a reserve, in the Rockets' 134-95 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

“Good as you can make it,” Mike D’Antoni said of Gordon. “I mean, talk about a good sixth man. Oh my gosh, he’s really good.”

Over the previous five seasons, Gordon started 217 of 221 games for the New Orleans Pelicans before the Rockets signed him and Ryan Anderson in free agency. Gordon was used to starting, but he put his ego aside with D’Antoni wanting him to provide a spark off the bench.

“He embraces it, most definitely,” Anderson said. “He’s a professional guy, he wants to win, and I think, most importantly, he wants to play for a team where he can be used in the right way, and the thing is, he found that role.”

Entering Wednesday, Gordon was second in the league in points per game off the bench, with 17.1, behind only the Lakers' Lou Williams (18.4).

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The sixth men certainly saw plenty of each other Wednesday. Gordon and Williams came off the bench at the same time in the first half. Gordon, obviously knowing Williams was the Lakers' leading scorer, produced quickly. He scored 12 first-quarter points, all on 3-pointers, as the Rockets rolled to an easy 43-27 lead. Williams finished the quarter with 10 points but had three of nine turnovers for an injury-riddled Lakers team.

Gordon wasn’t finished. In his 24 minutes off the bench, he became the fifth player in league history to make at least eight 3-point field goals in 24 minutes of action or less.

“I’m just settling in my role,” Gordon said. “[It’s] definitely [to] bring different energy, scoring, playmaking with the second unit, and I’m just settling in. It’s getting better and better, they’re looking for me, and it’s all up to me to knock down shots.”

Early in the race for Sixth Man of the Year, Gordon might be in the lead, with Williams not far behind. Gordon said he would like to win the award, but he knows that his team winning would make for a stronger case.

Anderson said Gordon is making the sacrifices of coming off the bench with the belief that he can win with the Rockets. A look at the standings shows Houston (15-7) in the upper half of the Western Conference and the team Gordon left, the Pelicans, in the bottom half. Gordon was most likely going to leave the Pelicans when his contract expired last season, but he sought a franchise that believed in his ability to make plays.

“What you kind of miss is when he comes to us, he’s a great defender. He’s not a good defender -- he’s a great defender,” D’Antoni said. “You put that with what he’s doing [on offense], it’s great to have him, that’s for sure.”

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The big theme of this night was the Rockets' getting some revenge on the Lakers, who beat them opening night. Los Angeles was without two key players in Nick Young (calf) and D'Angelo Russell (knee). As D’Antoni said, the league doesn’t care about your problems because you have to play the schedule.

And Houston did, with a dominating performance. James Harden scored 25 points and didn't play in the fourth quarter for the first time this season. Patrick Beverley nearly had his first triple-double, with 10 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds. Seven Rockets scored in double figures as they outrebounded the Lakers 52-39 and produced a season-high 35 assists.

It was Gordon who took a leading role.

“I know I had it going in the first quarter, and we were just scoring at will tonight,” he said. “It was good to see that, and once that happens, its open for everybody, and I definitely had a hot hand, and my teammates were just looking for me.”