Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Vital victory
Impressive Heat down Rockets, 109-103.
MIAMI — The challenge was James Harden. It was accepted by practically the entire Heat roster.
In a season that has included plenty of questions about the Heat’s depth of talent, Tuesday night’s 109-103 victory over the Houston Rockets at AmericanAirlines Arena spoke volumes of the possibilities.
So even with Harden closing with 40 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, the Heat continued to come in waves at the Rockets, in their most impressive effort of the season.
This was Goran Dragic scoring 21 and Dion Waiters 17.
It was Hassan Whiteside closing with 14 points and 15 rebounds.
And it was Wayne Ellington scoring 18 off the bench, Tyler Johnson 16 and James Johnson 15.
With Ryan Anderson out for the Rockets and Eric Gordon 3 of 17 off Houston’s bench, the Heat were able to withstand an effort from Harden that included 12 of 13 foul shooting.
When Rodney McGruder scored on a layup in transition with 8:36 to play, it put the Heat up 88-83, matching their largest lead to that stage. That lead, however, was short-lived, with a driving layup by Harden with 7:05 remaining putting the Rockets back ahead 89-88.
But consecutive transition baskets by Tyler Johnson then put the Heat up 94-89, and Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni was then called for a technical foul for arguing that Harden was getting an unfair whistle.
With 5:40 to play, Wayne Ellington con-
verted the technical free throw, with an ensuing conversion from the line by Dragic putting the Heat up 96-89.
An Ellington 3-pointer with 4:46 to play later gave the Heat a 99-91 lead.
Later, an Ellington 3-pointer with 1:41 left extended the Heat’s lead to 105-94, on the way to a 14-point edge.
Even with Harden up to 31 points, nine rebounds and eight assists to that stage, the Heat were able to stand tied 79-79 going into the fourth quarter, with Whiteside up to 13 points and 13 rebounds to that point.
The difference at that stage was forward Trevor Ariza, with 11 points, was the only other Rockets player in double digits, with six Heat players with double digits entering the fourth.
Harden was 12 of 12 from the foul line over the first three quarters, with the Heat at 11 of 14 from the line to that point.
While arguing for a push-off foul call on Harden, having argued for such a call all night, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was called for a technical foul with 9:05 left in the third period.
Instead, McGruder was called for his fourth foul on the play.
Spoelstra had called out the officials earlier on Harden’s flopping, telling them “it’s bad for the game.”
The teams went into the intermission tied 53-53, with Harden with 15 points at that stage, and Whiteside with 11 points and eight rebounds through the first two periods.
The Rockets stood at 6 of 20 on 3-pointers at halftime.
The Rockets took a 32-27 lead into the second period, with Harden at 10 points and six assists at that stage.
The Heat opened for the third consecutive game with Whiteside at center, Luke Babbitt and McGruder at forward, and Waiters and Dragic at guard.
The Heat again were without Josh Richardson (foot), Justise Winslow (shoulder), Josh McRoberts (foot) and Chris Bosh (blood clots), although backup center Willie Reed was back after missing their loss Friday to the Milwaukee Bucks with a bruised sternum.
While the Rockets got starting center Clint Capela back from the injured list, they were without Anderson. That had them opening with a small-ball lineup that had Trevor Ariza at power forward and Corey Brewer in the lineup at small forward.
It was the first game of the two-game season series that concludes Feb. 15 in Houston. The Rockets entered having won three of the past four meetings.
It was the Heat’s first home game since Jan. 1 and the start of a four-game homestand that continues Thursday against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Heat entered 5-13 at home, with losses in 10 of their previous 11 overall.
The Rockets entered off a 137-112 victory Sunday in Brooklyn that snapped a two-game losing streak.