Harden, Rockets down Heat
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Miami, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Chris Bosh chose Miami over Houston during the offseason, but the Rockets have fared just fine without him.
James Harden was a rebound shy of a triple-double, tallying 25 points and 10 assists as the Rockets beat the Heat 108-91 in a battle of unbeaten teams on Tuesday night.
"We showed tremendous confidence especially in the fourth quarter," said Harden. "We got stops when we needed to."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Houston and Miami were two of four undefeated teams -- Memphis and Golden State being the others -- coming into Tuesday's showdown.
Harden, who was 10-of-10 from the foul line, is 61-of-64 from the charity stripe so far this season.
Dwight Howard posted 26 points and 10 boards and Trevor Ariza nailed five 3- pointers and netted 19 points for Houston, which is off to its first 5-0 start since opening 6-0 during the 1996-97 season.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bosh had 21 points and eight rebounds and Dwyane Wade added 19 points for Miami, which was looking to go 4-0 first the first time since winning its first five to start the 2011-12 campaign.
"It was a very competitive game," Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra said. "We just had some unusual mental breakdowns heading down the stretch."
After back-to-back triples by Shabazz Napier and Justin Hamilton pulled the Heat within 90-86 with seven minutes left in the fourth, Ariza hit a trio of shots from beyond the arc during a 13-0 run to put the game away.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}His corner trey made it 103-86 with 3:25 remaining.
Earlier, a pair of Hamilton 3-pointers in the closing minutes of the first gave the Heat a 31-30 edge following a quarter of play, but the Rockets outscored Miami 27-24 in the second and led 57-55 at the break.
A step-back Harden triple and a Donatas Motiejunas hook shot finished off a 9-0 spurt to stake Houston to a 68-59 spread midway through the third, and it led 83-77 after three.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Game Notes
The Rockets shot 51.5 percent (35-of-68) from the floor and hit 17-of-37 from (45.9 percent) from beyond the arc ... Miami shot 41.9 percent (31-of-74) from the field ... Patrick Beverley netted 15 points for Houston.