Rockets Snap the Heat’s Longest Win-Streak, 115-102

With their longest winning streak of the season, the Miami Heat (27-22) entered Tuesday night’s game in Houston looking to extend their streak from four games to five.

The Houston Rockets (26-25) crushed those hopes with a 115-102 win over the Heat.

Up until the final ten seconds of the first quarter, the Heat held the lead. The second quarter showed the teams neck-at-neck. During the third quarter, however, things were different. The Rockets completely took control of the game and maintained a lead until the end. At one point during the fourth quarter, the Heat trailed behind by 17 points. Though Miami managed to close in on the the Rockets several times in the fourth, Houston continued to excel, leading to their 13-point win over the Heat.

This loss left the Heat as sixth in the Eastern Conference, after being in the number three spot after their game on Sunday.

The Miami Heat made only 44.7 percent of their shots Tuesday night. Miami forward Chris Bosh says those shots missed by his team set the Rockets up to make plays of their own.

Stars for the Heat included forward Luol Deng, who led the team with 17-points of his own. Guard Dwyane Wade recorded for 16-points, the second highest of the team. Amar’e Stoudemire had 14-points as well as 10 rebounds, his second straight double-double.

Guard James Harden led the Rockets with 26-points and center Josh Smith recorded 19-points as the second-highest point scorer for his team. The Rockets were without starting center Dwight Howard, who was suspended for “striking the arm” of an official in Saturday night’s loss against the Washington Wizards. Howard is eligible to play in the next game against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday.

As for the Miami, the Heat continue on the road tonight where they won’t travel far to face the Dallas Mavericks (28-23).