Rockets 95, Pelicans 93: James Harden had 25 points and 10 assists as visiting Houston welcomed back Dwight Howard with a victory.

Trevor Ariza had 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists and Donatas Motiejunas added 21 points and eight boards for the Rockets, who have won five of their last six games and moved within 1 1/2 games of Memphis for the second spot in the West. Howard, who missed 26 games with a knee injury, had four points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes.

Tyreke Evans had 28 points and seven rebounds for the Pelicans, who lost their fourth straight game and fell 3 1/2 games back of Oklahoma City for the eighth spot in the West. Anthony Davis had 24 points, 14 rebounds, three steals and three blocks but left for the locker room for a few minutes early in the fourth quarter after aggravating a previous shoulder injury.

Evans converted all six shots, including two from the arc, as New Orleans hit 15-of-20 in the first quarter to take a 34-19 lead, but Houston responded by draining 13-of-19 in the second quarter to pull within 52-49 at the break.

Ariza drained three 3-pointers and converted a dunk to provide the Rockets a seven-point edge with 4 1/2 minutes left in the third. New Orleans pulled within four early in the fourth but Motiejunas scored seven points in just over three minutes as the Rockets pushed back to an 11-point edge, and the Pelicans closed within two with 1.7 ticks left on a free throw by Eric Gordon, but the Pelicans couldn't convert his miss of the second.

GAME NOTEBOOK: After their opening-quarter barrage, the Pelicans shot 19-of-55. … Pelicans C Omer Asik returned after missing two games with a calf injury and had six points and six rebounds in 26 minutes. … Ariza shot 3-of-4 from the arc but his teammates combined for 3-of-18.