Hot Rockets cool off Heat

HOUSTON – The Houston Rockets aren’t the type of team to rest on their laurels.

Just two days after beating the reigning league champion Golden State Warriors, Houston quickly refocused on Monday night with a 99-90 victory over the Miami Heat in a battle of first-place NBA teams.

James Harden scored a team-high 28 points while Chris Paul had 16 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Rockets, who are blasting through one of the toughest stretches of their season.

Eric Gordon came off the bench to score 16 points and Clint Capela delivered 14 for the Rockets, who won for the first time when scoring under 100 points in a game.

In other results, Charlotte held off Sacramento, 112-107; Atlanta routed Utah, 104-90; Memphis thwarted Philadelphia, 105-101; Milwaukee repulsed Phoenix, 109-105; New Orleans subdued Chicago, 132-128; Dallas upended Washington, 98-75; Denver edged Portland, 104-101; and the Minnesota Timberwolves trounced the Los Angeles Clippers, 126-118.

Back in Houston, Hassan Whiteside led the Southeast Division-leading Heat with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while Josh Richardson finished with 12 in the loss in front of a crowd of 18,050 at the Toyota Center arena.