Rockets 100, Suns 95
James Harden had 15 points, a season-best 12 rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots as host Houston beat Phoenix.
Patrick Beverley added 19 points and made five 3-pointers as the Rockets won their fourth straight game. Trevor Ariza also scored 19 points and Donatas Motiejunas had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Houston, which was without Dwight Howard (knee) for the 10th straight game.
Eric Bledsoe scored 23 points and Gerald Green added 16 for the Suns, who shot 36.6 percent from the field. P.J. Tucker contributed 15 points and eight rebounds and Goran Dragic added 13 points but was just 5-of-14 shooting.
The Suns trailed by 16 five-plus minutes into the fourth quarter before cutting their deficit to seven. Beverley hit his fifth 3-pointer with 2:30 left to make it 95-85 but Phoenix pulled within 97-93 on a basket by Tucker with 21.9 seconds to play before Beverley made three of free throws to push the margin to seven with 12.3 seconds remaining.
Houston led by 17 points after the opening quarter and was up by 21 early in the second quarter before taking a 60-41 lead into the break. The Suns whittled away at the deficit and trailed 80-67 entering the final stanza and moved within nine on Marcus Morris’ basket with 10:27 remaining.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Beverley returned from a five-game absence due to a hamstring injury. … The Suns were just 7-of-28 from 3-point range and were outrebounded 57-40. … PF Terrence Jones (leg) continues to sit out for the Rockets as does Phoenix PG Isaiah Thomas (ankle).