Howard returns, relaunches Rockets

NEW ORLEANS – Dwight Howard corralled a no-look pass from James Harden along the baseline and went up quickly for a forceful one-handed stuff.

That first-quarter highlight alone would have been a promising sign for a Rockets squad gearing up for the playoffs. Erasing a 17-point deficit on the road against a desperate Pelicans team made for an even more satisfying night.

Harden had 25 points and 10 assists, Howard had seven rebounds and a block on Anthony Davis in his return from a two-month absence, and Houston handed New Orleans its fourth straight loss with a 95-93 victory on Wednesday.

“We came back from a big deficit and the one thing I kept telling the fellas was, we’ve got to stop playing around with the game,” Howard said. “We’re on a big mission to win a championship, and we’ve got to wake up and play.”

Howard, who had missed 26 games with a right knee injury since last stepping on the court on Jan. 23, was held under 17 minutes by coach Kevin McHale. He finished with only four points, but said scoring is not among his immediate priorities on a team with plenty of offensive options.

“I felt pretty good. It seemed like as soon as I got out there it was time to sit back down, so it was kind of an adjustment,” Howard said. “I’m just happy to be back out there playing. The main thing for me is just really helping the team on the defensive end. The other stuff will come.”

Davis had 24 points and 14 rebounds for the Pelicans, but uncharacteristically missed eight free throws, including one that could have pulled New Orleans to 94-93 with 7 seconds left.

In Memphis, the Cleveland Cavaliers thrashed the Grizzlies, 111-89 behind a game-high 24 points from Kyrie Irving, while George Hill scored on a layup with 2.7 seconds left and the Indiana Pacers ended a six-game losing streak with a 103-101 win over the Wizards.

The Chicago Bulls beat Toronto, 116-103, to pull 1 1/2-games clear of the Raptors in the race for the third-best record in the Eastern Conference while Paul Millsap had 25 points and 11 rebounds and the Atlanta Hawks overturned a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Orlando Magic, 95-83.

Goran Dragic scored 22 points and the Miami Heat fought off a fourth-quarter charge by the Boston Celtics for a 93-86 victory.

Despite the absence of Dwyane Wade, Hassan Whiteside and Chris Andersen, and with Chris Bosh and Josh McRoberts gone for the year, the Heat (33-38) remained in seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

The Los Angeles Clippers moved closer to securing the fourth spot in the Western Conference playoffs with a resounding 111-80 road win over the New York Knicks while the San Antonio Spurs had their best point production of the season and largest margin of victory with a 130-91 thumping of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Tony Parker scored 21 points, and Boris Diaw added 19 as the Spurs (45-26) converted 58 percent of their shots, including 13 of 21 three-pointers.

The Sacramento Kings won their fourth game in a row and dented the playoff hopes of Phoenix with a 108-99 road win over the Suns.

In Minneapolis, Fil-Am Jordan Clarkson took a step back before helping the Los Angeles Lakers take one forward.

Clarkson shot 6 of 16 and had six turnovers. But the rookie, who spent time earlier this season in the NBA Development League, hit two free throws with 0.3 seconds left in overtime to send Los Angeles to a 101-99 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night. (AP)