Rockets 99, Wizards 91: James Harden scored 24 points and handed out six assists as visiting Houston downed Washington to earn its fourth straight win.

Corey Brewer added 15 points off the bench and Josh Smith had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, who moved one-half game ahead of the Memphis Grizzlies atop the Southwest Division and for the second seed in the Western Conference. Trevor Ariza tallied 13 points and eight rebounds while Dwight Howard had 11 points and 10 boards.

John Wall recorded 25 points, 12 assists, eight rebounds and four steals for the Wizards, who fell 2 1/2 games behind the Raptors in the battle for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Otto Porter Jr. and Bradley Beal had 15 points apiece while Marcin Gortat pulled down 10 rebounds.

Smith knocked down five of his first six shots to help the Rockets speed ahead 28-20 after one quarter and Pablo Prigioni drained a 3-pointer to push the margin to 16 midway through the second stanza. Harden scored Houston's last six points of the first half as the Rockets shot 58.5 percent to take a 59-46 lead at intermission.

Ariza hit three free throws and connected from beyond the arc to put Houston in front 67-53 and the Rockets settled for a nine-point advantage heading into the final frame. Prigioni and Brewer buried back-to-back 3-pointers to put Houston on top 85-75 and Harden and Ariza scored four points apiece during an 8-0 run to stretch the lead to 93-77 and effectively seal the win.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Rockets have won nine of their last 10 games against Eastern Conference opponents. … Houston survived 20 turnovers and a 22-of-33 performance from the free-throw line. … Wizards SF Paul Pierce and Gortat were limited to a combined eight points on 4-of-16 shooting.