James Harden, Chris Paul and timely defense help Rockets beat the Heat

Posted: January 22, 2018 -- 11:55 pm CST.

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- James Harden and Chris Paul combined for seven points in 62 seconds to help the Houston Rockets break an 88-88 tie and earn a hard-fought 99-90 win over the Miami Heat.

"After the initial hit, the 33 points we took from them, I thought our defense really stepped up," said Rockets Head Coach Mike D'Antoni after the game. "We played hard as heck, kind of thought it could be that way. We get an emotional victory on Saturday, and then to get going we just didn’t come out of the gates very well. But after that, our defense was solid, never really got into a groove. They’re (Miami Heat) good. Erik (Spoelstra) does a great job. (Hassan) Whiteside’s back, he’s long, he causes problems, they stand on the perimeter, they got all guys that can switch. So, it just came down to James (Harden) and Chris (Paul), just creating and getting buckets, big buckets. It got us through. Our defense and those two guys just found shots, found some ways to score."

Tonight marks the Rockets (33-12) first win when scoring below 100 points this season (1-3 mark; 2-3 in 2016-17).  Houston has held the opposition below 100 points 17 times (15-2 mark) in the 45 games this season after doing so 18 times in 2016-17 (18-0 mark).  Since allowing 120 plus points in consecutive games December 29 and December 31, the Rockets are holding opponents to 105.3 ppg in the 10 games this month.

Harden swished a 30-foot three-point shot with the shock clock winding down to put the Rockets ahead 91-88 with 3:04 remaining in the fourth period. Then, after Miami's James Johnson scored a lay-up, Harden nailed a 14-foot fadeaway baseline jumper for a 93-90 lead with 2:25 on the clock.

Chris Paul double-teamed Miami big man Hassan Whiteside and stole the ball from Whiteside.

Harden missed a step back three-point attempt; then, on Miami's possession, Houston's Luc Mbah a Moute stole the ball from Whiteside which led to another missed jump shot by Harden.

Miami's Wayne Ellington missed a lay-up and Mbah a Moute snared the rebound.

Chris Paul set up in the mid-post and caught a pass from Harden. Next, Harden faced up to the basket and began to jab step a few times in front of defender Josh Richardson. Then, despite Richardson's good defense, Paul rose up and swished an 18-foot jump shot in front of Richardson for a 95-90 Rockets' lead with just 39.7 seconds remaining.

After a Heat timeout, Harden blocked Whiteside's lay-up attempt which led to a Clint Capela slam dunk with 18.4 seconds on the clock.

After James Johnson's lay-up, Miami did not score in the final 2:48 of the ball game.

"Our shots may not fall or we may not have our rhythm," James Harden said. "But, defensively we have to compete and match each opponent’s intensity. And if we do that, we give ourselves a chance every night."

The Rockets trailed the Heat 33-25 at the end of the first quarter.

Whiteside dominated Capela and the Rockets in the opening 12 minutes. Whiteside scored 14 points in the first quarter on 7 for 8 field goal shooting; and, he added 3 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 assists.

The Heat (27-20) shot 71.4% (15 for 21) in the first quarter while the Rockets made 8 of 19 field goal attempts (42.1%). James Harden scored 13 of the Rockets' 25 first quarter points.

The Rockets' defense was much more active and effective the rest of the game. The Heat shot 31.8% (7 for 22) in the second quarter and scored only 17 points.

Houston did not shoot very well either (8 for 18 field goals); but, the Rockets outscored the Heat 21-17 in the second quarter.

Houston forward Ryan Anderson was a non-factor in the first quarter; however, Anderson made 3 three-point shots in the second quarter to score a team-high 9 points. Anderson's three-point acumen came at the five (center) spot which factored into Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra's decision to limit Whiteside's minutes because Whiteside struggles to defend big men who can shoot well from three-point range.

“Yeah, yeah Ryan (Anderson) hits three 3’s and got him going a little bit. Again, I just think that we have all kinds of answers for different things. We just have to find them, go with them a little bit. It’s not going to work every night, but I think we have an answer for every defense, every team. It’s just the matter of us, can we bring the heart and energy and soul, fight and grind it, and let our two guys find a way to win.”

Good defense (and poor shooting) continued in the third quarter. The Rockets made 9 of 24 field goal attempts while the Heat made 8 of 20 attempts. The Heat also turned over the ball 5 times which the Rockets converted into 9 points. The Heat did not score off either of the Rockets' two third-quarter turnovers.

Houston won the third quarter 25-18 and led the Heat 71-68 after three quarters.

Miami's offense perked up in the final period. The Heat made 6 of 7 field goal attempts in the first 4:35 of the quarter to tie the game at 81 with 7:25 remaining in the game.

The game was tied three more times: 84, 86, and 88 before Harden swished the three-point shot to give the Rockets the 91-88 lead with 3:06 on the clock. Houston kept the lead the rest of the game.

"We had some tough possessions offensively," said Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra after the game. "We really had to work to generate open looks against them. But, we felt like the game was in our wheelhouse. We tied it up and then we’re also up 83-81 and I liked the tempo and everything about the game. They finished and finished in high fashion, making shots and we struggled to get clean looks on the other end."

Houston improves to 18-0 when Clint Capela, James Harden, and Chris Paul play together this season.  Tonight marked the 14th time (14-0 mark) that Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni was able to use his preferred starting lineup of Capela, Harden, Paul, Ryan Anderson and Trevor Ariza.

James Harden had a game-high 28 points after averaging 16.0 ppg in his first two games played after returning from a seven-game absence.  He has scored 20 plus points in 37 of his 38 games played this season.  Harden also had 2 steals and 2 blocks.  He has recorded those numbers in each of his past four games played after not having a streak longer than two games prior in his career.  Harden had 5 3-point field goals made tonight, marking his league-best 14th game with 5 plus 3-point field goals made this season.

 Clint Capela had 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the second half after scoring 2 points on 1-of-4 shooting in the first half.  He has now scored in double-figures in a career-best 10 straight games.

Chris Paul had 8 points on 3-of-4 shooting in the fourth quarter after having a total of 8 points on 3-of-9 shooting the first three quarters combined.

"It was going to be a grind out game," Chris Paul admitted. "Shots weren’t falling, we dug ourselves a hole early, but those games you just got to win them."

The Rockets next game is Wednesday, January 24, on the road, against the Dallas Mavericks. Tip is set for 7 p.m.

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