Rockets 95, Mavericks 92: James Harden scored 32 points and took over in the final minute as Houston survived a furious comeback from visiting Dallas.

Patrick Beverley matched a career-high with 20 points before leaving with a hamstring injury for the Rockets, who avoided a third straight loss. Trevor Ariza was just 2-of-10 from the field but hit two key free throws in the final seconds and Donatas Motiejunas scored 14 points for Houston, which was without Dwight Howard (knee) for the second straight night.

Monta Ellis scored 17 points and Brandan Wright added 14 and 11 rebounds off the bench for the Mavericks, who ran out of gas in the final minutes after coming back from an 18-point deficit. Tyson Chandler collected 13 points and 13 rebounds and Dirk Nowitzki scored 11 points but was off the mark on a tying 3-point attempt in the final seconds.

The Rockets held an 81-73 lead with 9:15 left before J.J. Barea scored five straight points to kick start a 13-0 burst led by the Mavericks’ reserves. Jason Terry’s layup with 1:14 to play snapped a field-goal drought of 9:01 and pulled Houston within 91-88 before Ellis split a pair of free throws and Harden scored five points in under 30 seconds to put the Rockets back in front 93-92 with 28.2 seconds left.

Harden’s 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the second quarter sent the Rockets into the half up 60-51 and the lead swelled to 18 points when he connected again from beyond the arc with 4:24 left in the third. The Mavericks bridged the third and fourth with an 18-4 run capped by Devin Harris’ 3-pointer to close within 77-73 with 10:22 to play.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Rockets went 13-of-25 from 3-point range in the first two quarters but slumped to 2-of-21 after the half. … Howard received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his ailing right knee and there is no timetable for his return. … Houston’s 46 3-point attempts was a season high and three short of tying the NBA record.