TIM REYNOLDS
TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
MIAMI — There’s no mystery to Houston’s game plan. The Rockets shoot a ton of 3-pointers, feed Dwight Howard when the long ball isn’t there, and run when they can.
So far, it’s been foolproof.
James Harden was one rebound away from a triple-double, Howard scored 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and the Rockets stayed unbeaten by beating the Miami Heat 108-91 on Tuesday night.
“We’ve started great,” Howard said. “We just want to finish great.”
Harden finished with 25 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds for Houston, which has won all five of its games — four on the road — by double digits. And after an offseason filled with questions about why Houston didn’t do more, the Rockets have been dominant to start.
“I don’t care what anybody thinks,” Rockets coach Kevin McHale said. “Why would I care what you’ve thought? I don’t care. I care about what we do in that locker room with our guys.”
Trevor Ariza added 19 points for the Rockets, who used a 13-0 run late in the fourth quarter to pull away. Patrick Beverley scored 15 for Houston.
Chris Bosh scored 21 points for Miami (3-1). Dwyane Wade added 19 for the Heat, with Shawne Williams and Mario Chalmers each scoring 12.
“That’s tough at the end,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Probably more mental breakdowns than anything else physically going down the stretch. … You do have to credit them. They don’t make it easy. They have a high-octane offense.”
Houston went 17 for 37 from 3-point range and now has 213 points from beyond the arc this season, as opposed to 198 points on 2-pointers.
“You’ve got the most dominant big man in the league roaming around the rim so somebody has to take him,” Harden said. “And then you have tremendous shooters on the wing. It’s pretty hard to guard.”
A 17-8 run by the Rockets closed the half and gave Houston a 57-55 lead at intermission. The run continued in the third.
Houston scored 18 points in a 4½-minute stretch that was capped by three 3-pointers in 66 seconds — the last two by Beverley, helping the Rockets turn a tied game into a 77-64 lead.
Miami ripped off 10 straight points to get within 83-80 early in the fourth, and 3s from Justin Hamilton and Shabazz Napier cut Houston’s lead to 90-86 with 7 minutes left.
But Ariza hit a 3, Harden laid in his own miss and then Ariza — over the outstretched arm of the 7-foot Bosh — made a high-arcing 3 to put Houston up 12 and in control for good.
“That was huge,” McHale said.
Miami allowed a total of 17 3-pointers in its first three games. The Rockets made 17 against the Heat on Tuesday, the eighth time in Miami history an opponent has hit so many.
RAPTORS 100, THUNDER 88
TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan scored 16 points, Patrick Patterson had 14 and the Raptors beat the depleted Thunder.
Lou Williams scored nine of his 12 points in the fourth quarter and Tyler Hansbrough got eight of his 12 at the free-throw line as the Raptors improved to 3-1.
Serge Ibaka had 25 points and 11 rebounds for a short-handed Oklahoma City team playing the second game of a back-to-back. Reggie Jackson added 13 points and a career-high 14 assists.
The Thunder began the game with eight active players and finished with six. Forward Perry Jones departed with an apparent right knee injury early in the second half, and guard Sebastian Telfair was ejected for a flagrant-two foul with 1:57 left after he struck Hansbrough in the face.
BULLS 98, MAGIC 90
CHICAGO— Pau Gasol had 16 points and 13 rebounds, and the Bulls beat the winless Magic despite playing without Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah.
Jimmy Butler led the Bulls with 21 points and Taj Gibson added 16 for Chicago, which finally pulled away in the final minutes of a game that was tied after three quarters.
Rose missed his second straight game after injuring both ankles Friday against Cleveland. He took part in the morning shootaround and was listed as probable, but was taken out of the starting lineup about a half hour before the game after going through warmups.
Noah was ill.
Tobias Harris scored 21 points and Nikola Vucevic had 19 points and 13 rebounds for Orlando, which is 0-4 for the first time since dropping its first six in 1990-91.
BUCKS 87, PACERS 81
INDIANAPOLIS — Brandon Knight had 23 points for Milwaukee, including a key jumper with 22 seconds left.
The Pacers shot 39.7 percent while playing without starters George Hill (bruised left knee), David West (sprained right ankle) and Paul George (fractured leg).
Milwaukee led 43-38 at the half and opened the third quarter with a 10-0 run. The Bucks led by as many as 17.
Chris Copeland scored 10 of his 19 points in the third quarter to help Indiana close to 69-61. He added one of his four 3-pointers with less than a minute to play, but Knight knocked down a 21-footer to help Milwaukee hold on.
WIZARDS 98, KNICKS 83
NEW YORK — Paul Pierce and Garrett Temple scored 17 points apiece, and the Wizards beat the Knicks for the fourth straight time.
Kevin Seraphin had 15 points for Washington, which pulled away with a 14-0 run in the third quarter and won its third straight game. Backup guard Andre Miller added 12 points.
Iman Shumpert scored 19 points for the Knicks (2-2), who had won their last two games. Carmelo Anthony had 18 points on 8-for-23 shooting.
The Wizards outscored the Knicks 32-15 in the third. They swept the series last season and haven’t lost to New York since April 9, 2013.
PELICANS 100, HORNETS 91
NEW ORLEANS — Anthony Davis had 24 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks, leading New Orleans to its first victory since its season opener.
Tyreke Evans added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Pelicans, who bounced back from Monday night’s 93-81 loss at Memphis. Ryan Anderson scored 16 points and Austin Rivers had 12..