Associated Press
CLEVELAND -- James Harden scored 29 points, including 16 in the fourth quarter, and the Houston Rockets defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 112-104 on Saturday night.
Jeremy Lin added 20 points for Houston, which has won 11-of-14.
Kyrie Irving led Cleveland with 30 points, including 11 in the final period, but the Cavaliers fell short of winning two in a row for the second time this season.
Harden, who had four points in the first half, made 6-of-17 field-goal attempts, but was 14-of-15 at the line and had a career-high seven steals. He came into the game averaging 26.3 points and has topped the 20-point mark in each of his last 16 games.
Harden scored seven straight points for Houston during one key stretch in the final period. He made a foul shot and converted a three-point play to help Houston build a 91-86 lead. Then he made a 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down, making it 94-88 with 5:52 remaining. Harden lost control of his dribble at the top of the key, hurriedly retrieved the ball and hit the shot over Dion Waiters.
Harden added another 3-pointer with 3:58 left for a 100-92 lead.
Lin's three-point play and Carlos Delfino's 3-pointer helped Houston maintain the lead, but Irving kept Cleveland in the game with a pair of 3-pointers and a foul shot. Harden hit a jumper with 45.7 seconds left and added two free throws at the 29.6-second mark to make it 110-103.
The Rockets trailed by 18 in the second quarter of Friday night's 115-101 victory at Milwaukee. They trailed by 10 in the first quarter against Cleveland, but managed to rally for another win.
Cavaliers center Anderson Varejao, the league's leading rebounder, missed his ninth straight game with a bruised right knee.
Patrick Patterson scored 15 points for Houston while Marcus Morris and Greg Smith had 11 apiece. Smith also had 11 rebounds.
Alonzo Gee scored 18 points for Cleveland. Tristan Thompson added 14 points and 16 rebounds.
Houston took its first lead midway through the second quarter on Harden's layup. Irving's three-point play gave the Cavaliers a 39-37 lead, but Lin, who scored all 14 of his first-half points in the quarter, hit two 3-pointers and a jumper to help Houston take a 54-50 lead at halftime. The Rockets hit six 3-pointers in the quarter.
Houston 112, Cleveland 104
HOUSTON (112) -- Parsons 2-9 2-2 7, Morris 4-8 2-2 11, Asik 1-3 2-4 4, Lin 7-13 3-5 20, Harden 6-17 14-15 29, Smith 5-5 1-5 11, Patterson 7-13 0-0 15, Delfino 3-6 1-1 9, Douglas 2-5 1-2 6. Totals 37-79 26-36 112.
CLEVELAND (104) -- Gee 6-12 4-4 18, Thompson 5-11 4-6 14, Zeller 4-9 4-4 12, Irving 10-24 7-8 30, Miles 4-14 0-0 9, Waiters 4-13 4-4 13, Walton 1-3 0-0 2, Livingston 0-3 0-0 0, K.Jones 2-2 2-2 6. Totals 36-91 25-28 104.
Houston 20 34 24 34 -- 112
Cleveland 26 24 28 26 -- 104
3-Point Goals-Houston 12-34 (Lin 3-5, Harden 3-9, Delfino 2-5, Douglas 1-2, Morris 1-4, Patterson 1-4, Parsons 1-5), Cleveland 7-23 (Irving 3-8, Gee 2-4, Waiters 1-5, Miles 1-6). Fouled Out-Gee. Rebounds-Houston 56 (Smith 11), Cleveland 54 (Thompson 16). Assists-Houston 23 (Lin 5), Cleveland 20 (Irving 6). Total Fouls-Houston 23, Cleveland 25. A-16,866 (20,562).
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