Rockets 103, Pistons 93: James Harden had 38 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists as Houston held on against visiting Detroit to end a two-game skid.

Terrence Jones added 17 points, eight rebounds and three blocks for the Rockets, who owned a 55-50 edge on the boards against the fourth-best rebounding team in the league. Corey Brewer contributed 15 points off the bench, Josh Smith had eight points and seven rebounds against his former team and fellow reserve Joey Dorsey finished with six points and 10 rebounds for Houston.

Greg Monroe had 19 points and eight rebounds to lead the Pistons, who have lost five straight. Reggie Jackson added 17 points and seven assists and Andre Drummond finished with eight points and 21 rebounds but shot 4-for-16 from the floor.

The Rockets led by as much as 10 late in the second quarter before taking a 54-46 lead into the half, and the Pistons eventually narrowed the gap to two points on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s driving layup with 7:28 left in the third quarter. The Rockets didn’t let them get any closer, surging back up by 11 following Harden’s three-point play with 1.8 seconds left in the third.

The Pistons, who took their only lead of the game at 14-13, missed their final four field goals of the third quarter and their first 12 of the fourth as they went scoreless for 5:36 bridging the two quarters. Houston scored the first 11 points of the final quarter to expand its lead to 91-69, and the Rockets were still up by 22 when they began lifting their starters with 5:31 left but were forced to put Harden back on the floor after Detroit cut the deficit to 10 with 2:27 on the clock.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Pistons, who came in shooting 34.1 percent from 3-point range after shooting 32.1 last season, the largest improvement in the NBA this season, shot 6-for-29 from behind the arc and are shooting 26.6 percent during their five-game losing streak. …. Harden also had seven turnovers, marking the sixth time this season he’s had seven or more giveaways. … Harden’s triple-double was the fifth of his six-year career and the third this season.