James Harden may have returned last night for the Houston Rockets, but it was Eric Gordon that was the best guard on the night for the Western Conference side as his performance against the Minnesota Timberwolves included an epic half-court basket.Harden was rusty on Thursday night for the Rockets during his limited minutes, as he scored just 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting with two rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and two blocks as well after just under 27 minutes of court time.Lucky for him, and for Houston, another guard inside the Toyota Center was taking off, as Gordon had a monster game to help the Rockets achieve a 116-98 win over the Timberwolves and keep the case on the Golden State Warriors at the top of the Western Conference.The 29-year-old produced a 30-point performance against Minnesota on the night to help keep Houston 4.5 games behind the Warriors in the Western Conference. He is 1-of-3 players in NBA this season with multiple 30-point games off the bench, with the other two players being Lou Williams and Rodney Hood.He also had three rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block in the game and was 11-of-19 from the field in 35 minutes of action. The shooting guard gave the Rockets a performance that was needed while Harden was trying to find his feet back on the court after seven games away, as it keeps them in the case at the top of the Western Conference.Gordon's best shot of the night is one for the career highlight reel as well, and it occurred as time was expiring in the third quarter. Before the timer hit 0:00, he managed to take off near the sideline on the center court line and shoot the ball towards the basket.As you can see in the video below, the shot went in, giving the Rockets a 19-point lead as they entered the fourth quarter of the game. Rockets are now 16-0 when Harden, Chris Paul, and Clint Capela all play, but this was Gordon's night to remember.

Gordon said of the shot after the game to ESPN: "When I shot it, I thought it was going to go in somehow. It looked good from that distance, but it was good to get that one to go in. It felt good to knock down a shot like that."

The Rockets play next on Saturday night at home against the Warriors.