Rockets 114, Nuggets 100: James Harden had 28 points and seven assists a night after his third triple-double of the season and visiting Houston bounced back from a slow start to beat Denver.

Corey Brewer added 24 points off the bench for the Rockets, who maintained sole possession of third place in the Western Conference. Trevor Ariza contributed 19 points, Donatas Motiejunas scored 18 and Josh Smith had 10 points and 10 rebounds in a reserve role for Houston.

Wilson Chandler had 26 points and four steals and Randy Foye finished with 20 points and seven assists to lead Denver. Ty Lawson came up two rebounds short of a triple-double, posting 13 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists, while Will Barton paced the reserves with 10 points.

Houston turned the game around in the third quarter, turning a four-point deficit with just under nine minutes left into a 15-point lead heading into the fourth. The Rockets took the lead for good with a 10-0 run that put them on top 71-64 and then closed the quarter with a 12-2 burst that stretched the advantage to 88-73.

The Rockets started slow, falling behind by as many as 11 points in the opening quarter before rallying within three heading into the second. Houston then took its own double-digit advantage in the second frame, going up by as many as 13 before the Nuggets scored the last six points of the first half to trim the deficit back to seven at the break.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Rockets improved to 3-0 against the Nuggets this season and had to rally from double-digit first-half deficits in all three. … Denver has lost 11 of its last 12 at home. … The Rockets improved to 11-9 when trailing after the first quarter.