Houston Rockets at Miami Heat

Rockets lose Paul, Heat escape with 101-99 victory

Dwyane Wade and the Heat pulled it off.

"If somebody else hit it, we would deal with it," Wade said. "But it wasn't going to be James Harden."

Harden scored 35 for the Rockets, whose five-game winning streak was snapped. The worst part of the night for Houston, however, will likely be the loss of point guard Chris Paul in the second quarter to a strained left hamstring.

All the Rockets know, for now, is that Paul will miss time. He will undergo an MRI on Friday to determine the severity and likely timetable for returning.

"We lose a guy of the magnitude of Chris, now we're fighting again," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "And the flaws that we have are going to come out again and we've got to overcome those."

Josh Richardson scored 22 points and Tyler Johnson added 19 for the Heat, who were up by 16 early, then wasted an 11-point lead in the fourth before rallying.

Gordon's 3-pointer with 37 seconds left got Houston within two, and the Rockets got a stop on a long ensuing Heat possession. Wade missed, Hassan Whiteside got the offensive rebound and Wade wound up missing again, with the Rockets finally corralling the ball with 3.8 seconds left.

"Our identity is trying to make it ugly," Tyler Johnson said. "A lot of teams aren't used to that."

Derrick Jones Jr. scored 15 for Miami, which got 11 from James Johnson and 10 from Wade. Gordon scored 20 for the Rockets, who got 14 from PJ Tucker and 10 from Danuel House Jr.

But in this one, the Rockets needed one more.

"In those situations you've always got to be ready and I've hit those shots many of times," Gordon said. "It just didn't go in for me."

Houston led by 16 early, then used a 13-1 run to erase an 11-point deficit in the fourth.

TIP-INS

Rockets: Houston led 45-38 when Paul went to the locker room. ... Houston is 1-7 this season when Paul and Harden aren't together, and going back to last season the Rockets have lost nine in a row when Paul isn't on the floor. ... Harden had 12 assists, and was 15 for 18 from the foul line.

Heat: Justise Winslow (sore right ankle) didn't play. ... The Heat held Houston to 35 percent shooting and outrebounded the Rockets 62-41.

STREAK ENDS

Whiteside didn't record a blocked shot, ending a 26-game streak going back to last season.

KNIGHT HOMECOMING

Houston's Brandon Knight was born in Miami and played his high school ball in nearby Fort Lauderdale. Thursday marked his first appearance in an NBA game at Miami since March 2, 2015. Knight didn't play last season after tearing his ACL in a summer pro league game at Miami in July 2017.

UP NEXT

Rockets: Host San Antonio on Saturday.

Heat: Host Milwaukee on Saturday.

Regular Season Series

MIA leads series 1-0