Rockets 106, Cavaliers 92: James Harden returned from a two-game layoff due to a thumb injury to score 28 points and Jeremy Lin produced his first career triple-double as host Houston stayed hot.

Lin came off the bench to collect 15 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for the Rockets, who have won three straight and 11 of 15. Dwight Howard had 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting.

Luol Deng led Cleveland with 24 points while Kyrie Irving finished with 21. Dion Waiters collected 19 points off the bench as the Cavaliers fell for the fourth straight time.

Waiters produced 15 points in the second quarter to allow Cleveland to stay within nine points at halftime and Deng had seven points as the Cavaliers opened the third on an 11-0 run to take a short-lived lead. The Rockets answered right back with 11 straight points of their own to regain control and led by as many as 14 later in the third.

Cleveland got as close as nine multiple times in the final period and were within 10 on Irving's fadeaway midway through. Harden answered with back-to-back hoops and converted an alley-oop in the final minute as Houston pulled away for its seventh straight home win against the Cavaliers.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Rockets F Terrence Jones finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, while G Patrick Beverley was held scoreless but chipped in 10 boards, eight assists and five steals. ... Houston had a 44-32 rebounding advantage and shot 51.3 percent from the floor. ... Cleveland has been held under 100 points in every game of a 1-6 slide.