HOUSTON (AP) – James Harden scored 26 points and tied a career-high with 14 assists as the Houston Rockets snapped a three-game skid with a 115-102 win over the Miami Heat on Tuesday night.
Houston had a double-digit lead for most of the second half and was up by 10 when Josh Smith scored all of the team’s points in a 7-2 run that pushed the advantage to 104-89 with about five minutes remaining.
The Rockets started Smith, a 6-foot-9 forward, at center with Dwight Howard serving a one-game suspension for making contact with an official this weekend and Clint Capela out with a thigh injury.
Smith scored a season-high 19 points in his second start this season and first since returning to Houston in a trade from the Clippers on Jan. 22.
Luol Deng had 17 points for the Heat whose season-high four game winning streak ended.