The mad scientist finally went too far. Probably. When Mike D'Antoni said before the season that James Harden could average 15 assists, Harden bought it. He leads the league with an average of 11.3, nearly four more than his previous career high. When the coach suggested the Rockets could have a game with four 40-point quarters, they nodded, not quite expecting it but not ruling it out, either. Then Thursday, when the Rockets put up 51 3s, he said they could average 50 3-point attempts per game the rest of the season. They can't. They won't. Before this season, no team had a single game launching 50 3s, never mind average that for two months. Yet, the Rockets' 3-happy offense has gone so far and had pushed the envelope even further with the addition of Lou Williams that, for a moment, the idea of putting up 50 3-pointers a night seemed plausible.

"How many did we shoot last night?" Harden said, as intending to make the argument.

Reminded D'Antoni said "average" Harden could not join him.

"I don't know about average," Harden said. "Coach be tripping, I told you."

Then Harden decided he'd rather not doubt anything D'Antoni tosses out there. It might not have been a goal, much less a prediction, but it seemed a worthwhile challenge.

"The offensive weapons we have, the shooting we have, it's definitely possible," Harden said. "When we get hot and guys get comfortable and confident, we're going to let it fly."

For the Rockets, that's a worthwhile goal because they judge 3s not by the quantity but the quality of the shots they take. If they can get as many good, open looks as they did against the Pelicans, they'd happily take 51 every night.

To average that many, they would have to do the other things well that D'Antoni is emphasizing. They'd have to get stops, pull in rebounds and push pace, all goals accomplished Thursday before the ball moved to open shooters long enough to snap out of the 0-for-7 start and knock down 20-of-43 the rest of the way.

Art of the shot chart

Still, D'Antoni liked the idea.

"It would be nice," D'Antoni said. "That shot chart last night looked pretty good. We had three (attempts) in the 2-point range.

"I don't know if it will be every night. It can be a goal we need. We need to embrace who we are and do it well. Some teams will try to take that away. Hopefully, that just means more layups. If they give us 3s, we'll take them."

Of the Rockets' 129 points on Thursday, 125 were on 3s, free throws or in the lane. They attempted just three shots that were not in the paint or beyond the 3-point line - a foul-line jumper that Nene hit, a pull-up jumper that Ryan Anderson sank and a mid-range jumper that Williams missed.

D'Antoni got an explanation for the miss, but he did not levy a fine.

More Information James Harden 187-533 Eric Gordon 188-492 Trevor Ariza 148-419 Ryan Anderson 156-382 Lou Williams 129-327 3-pointers Attempted this season KEY Player 3 PFG made- 3 PFG Att.

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"I asked him about it, he said his man fell down and he had to take it," D'Antoni said. "He said, "Coach, he forced my hand.' "

Williams a quick study

Williams, however, needed just 10 seconds to put up a 3-pointer and about as long to understand the Rockets' way of thinking. The Rockets acquired Williams, general manager Daryl Morey said, specifically to increase the firepower of the NBA's second-leading offensive team with a postseason matchup with San Antonio or Golden State in mind.

"We thought he'd fit in; didn't think it'd be that quick," Morey said. "We wanted to have shooting at all four spots, except center, to give James spacing and with our backup groups. We figured to have a chance … it's with a barrage of 3-pointers. We have guys who can put them in the basket.

"It's an upgrade we felt we needed to compete with, hopefully, the Golden States and San Antonios."

Averaging 40 3-point attempts per game, a pace that would be an NBA record, the Rockets are not likely to start taking 50 per game. But with their 20 made 3s on Thursday, they have reached that number seven times, matching the NBA record for a season with 23 games left.

"We have a lot of weapons," Williams said. "We have a lot of different guys who can score the basketball. To add me to that, it just makes us stronger. It's going to be tough on teams to guard."

'A great philosophy'

This is nothing new, especially to those that have spent the season hearing D'Antoni preach, even if he might get a bit carried away in a wave of 3-pointers.

"It's reasonable because it's (about) getting good shots," Eric Gordon said. "The other team, they can take as many two as they want. They're not going to accumulate that to the amount of 3s we make in a game. We get a lot of 3s and a lot of layups. … It's a great philosophy."