Heat head to Houston
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(SportsNetwork.com) - The Houston Rockets will try and get back on track following a lopsided loss when they host the Miami Heat Saturday night at the Toyota Center.
Houston fell in the Big Easy, 111-83, as it was no threat to the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night. It was the Rockets third loss in the last four attempts.
"We have to find a way to bring some energy and sustain it for 48 minutes," said Houston center Dwight Howard.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Howard and Corey Brewer led the Rockets with 12 points each in their second straight road loss. NBA scoring leader James Harden had just 11 points on 5- of-13 shooting.
"We wanted to try our best to keep (Harden) off the free throw line," said Pelicans coach Monty Williams.
Donatas Motiejunas was the only other double-figure scorer for the Rockets with 10.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Houston led the league in 3-pointers made coming into the game but shot just 6-of-29 from long distance. The Rockets allowed the Pelicans to shoot 53 percent from the floor and 46.7 percent from beyond the 3-point line.
The Rockets begin a three-game road trip, starting Monday in Chicago. They'll visit the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks during this sojourn.
Miami is in the midst of playing two straight and seven of eight games on the road, and suffered a 106-95 loss at Indiana on New Year's Eve.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Dwyane Wade scored 20 points to go with seven assists, three blocks and two steals for the Heat, who have lost three in a row and six of the last eight games. Chris Bosh had 18 points and eight boards, while Danny Granger scored 14 points off the bench against his former team.
"In the second half we weren't getting stops. So even if we were getting good clean looks, the majority of them were not in the paint," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.
Luol Deng scored 15 points in a losing effort. The Heat pulled within 92-85 with less than five minutes remaining and got no closer. They shot well at 49.4 percent, but dropped to 8-7 outside of South Beach this season.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Meanwhile, Granger has averaged 15.5 ppg in his last four and is shooting 70.6 percent from the floor in that time.
The Heat are scheduled to host Brooklyn on Sunday before heading west for five straight games against Portland, both Los Angeles teams, Golden State and Sacramento.
Miami suffered a 108-91 loss to Houston on Nov. 4 at AmericanAirlines Arena, as Howard recorded 26 points and Harden ended with 25. Bosh and Wade scored 21 and 19 points, respectively, in that one for the Heat, who are still 8-2 in the past 10 games in this series.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Heat are 11-15 in games played in Space City.