Australian NBA star guard Kyrie Irving scored 38 points but for a losing cause on Wednesday as the Houston Rockets pulled away late to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 105-93.
Houston's James Harden, the NBA's leading scorer, went only six-of-18 from the field but led the Rockets with 21 points as the visitors outscored the Cavaliers 32-19 in the fourth quarter for their third victory in five games.
The Cavaliers remain without injured star LeBron James, the NBA's No.2 scorer, who has a sore back and knee.
Dwight Howard scored 17 points and grabbed a season-high 19 rebounds for Houston, while reserve Josh Smith added 16 points, seven of them in the fourth quarter.
Irving's season-high point total included only four points in the final period after torching Houston for 34 over the opening three quarters.
His first field goal in the fourth quarter did not come until only about a minute remaining in the game.
Houston's Corey Brewer scored eight of his 12 points in the final quarter and Trevor Ariza netted 13 points for the Rockets.
JR Smith played more than 17 minutes off the bench but went scoreless in his Cavaliers debut, missing all five of his shots. He was part of a three-team, six-player deal earlier in the week.
Kevin Love added 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Cavaliers, while Tristan Thompson scored 11 for Cleveland, who lost for the sixth time in seven games. They are 19-17 overall but only 1-5 since James was sidelined.
The Cavaliers open their road trip on Friday against Golden State, who have the NBA's best record at 27-5.
The Rockets improve to 24-11, fifth in the Western Conference.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers, also struggling since a season-ending injury to Anderson Varejao, obtained Russian big man Timofey Mozgov from the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday for two future first-round NBA Draft picks.
The 28-year-old, 2.16-metre centre played for Cavaliers coach David Blatt on Russia's 2012 London Olympic team that captured a bronze medal.
Mozgov averaged 8.5 points and 7.8 rebounds a game for the Nuggets, who started 15-20 and stood 10th in the Western Conference.
His size will help the Cavaliers recover from the loss of Brazilian Varejao, who suffered a ruptured left achilles tendon two weeks ago. He was averaging 9.8 points and 6.8 rebounds a game.
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