James Harden scored a game-high 31 points, Robert Covington made a career playoff-high six 3-pointers and the Houston Rockets welcomed back All-Star guard Russell Westbrook with a 114-80 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of their Western Conference first-round series in The Field House at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando.

Houston will advance to the Western Conference semifinals with a victory in Game 6 Monday.

Harden shot 11 of 15, including 4 of 8 on 3-pointers, while adding five assists. He had little trouble scoring on Thunder guard Luguentz Dort, who gained renown for his rugged defense against Harden in Games 2-4. Dort struggled offensively as well, missing 13 of 16 shots while going 0-for-9 from behind the arc as Houston offered uncontested looks by design.

Westbrook made his return from a right quad strain and posted seven points, six rebounds and seven assists over 24 minutes in his first action of the series. Covington tallied 22 points on 6-of-11 3-point shooting and Eric Gordon chipped in 20 points as part of a strong two-way effort.

The Rockets turned a three-point halftime lead into a blowout victory with a 19-2 run that opened the third quarter.

The Thunder had their slim hopes dashed at the 6:51 mark when reserve guard Dennis Schroder earned an ejection following a confrontation with Rockets forward P.J. Tucker, who was also tossed. Schroder paced the Thunder with 19 points, including 11 consecutive points during the second quarter as part of an 11-3 Thunder run to the lead.

Schroder single-handedly turned a 33-28 deficit into a 39-36 lead with his stretch of dominance. But Harden, Gordon and Covington combined for a 10-0 run that pushed the Rockets back in front, and when Houston opened the second half with an 8-0 blitz, the Thunder had no response.

Chris Paul chipped in 16 points and six rebounds for the Thunder, who received a double-double (12 points, 14 rebounds) from Steven Adams. Oklahoma City shot just 31.5 percent overall and missed 39 of 46 3-pointers.

--Field Level Media