HOUSTON -- Earlier in the week, Houston Rockets guard James Harden insisted that backcourt mate Chris Paul assert himself offensively. On Wednesday night, Paul required no such prodding.

Paul ran roughshod with the second unit, and Houston parlayed a run bridging the first and second quarters into a 108-96 victory over the Charlotte Hornets at Toyota Center.

Houston (22-4) extended its winning streak to 11 games as Paul posted a season-high 31 points plus seven rebounds and 11 assists. He finished 5 of 9 on 3-point attempts and 10 of 16 overall, and he was the linchpin of a group that reeled off a 25-0 run to blow the game open.

"I sort of control the pace with that group," Paul said of being paired with the reserves upon re-entering the game late in the first period. "Early in the game, it's both me and James, and we both pick our spots. With that second unit, I dictate the tempo. I just take whatever is there."

Harden added 21 points and eight assists while Eric Gordon scored 17 points off the bench for Houston. The Rockets struggled catching a rhythm before Paul and the bench wrangled control late in the first quarter, turning a 21-18 deficit into a 26-point cushion with a relentless surge.

While Charlotte (10-17) managed just one field goal between a Michael Kidd-Gilchrist dunk at the 3:40 mark of the first quarter and a Kemba Walker pull-up jumper with 8:07 left in the first half, Houston scored 32 points during that stretch, including seven 3-pointers plus a three-point play.

The Rockets' 25-0 run started with a P.J. Tucker jumper with 2:07 left in the first and concluded when Gordon hit the Rockets' third consecutive trey at the 9:52 mark of the second. Paul scored 10 successive points at one point and later sank a 3-pointer before Gordon capped the rally.

"He was extremely aggressive," Harden said of Paul. "We just kind of rode that wave throughout the entire game.

"He's been having to play-make and get his teammates involved for the last several years. Now he doesn't have to do that consistently. He can go out there and get in his bag and shoot threes and show how his handles are crazy."

The Hornets were undone by their bench in the first half. As Houston stretched its lead, Charlotte's reserves totaled two points on 1-for-9 shooting. The Hornets' starters re-entered and managed to cut the deficit to 12 points, but that working deficit proved too large to overcome.

At the half, Charlotte reserve guard Jeremy Lamb and backup forward Frank Kaminsky were a minus-30 and minus-31, respectively, in plus-minus. Lamb finished at minus-32; Kaminsky was minus-38.

"We depend on them and we will continue to depend on those guys," Hornets associate head coach Stephen Silas said of the bench unit. "It was just one of those runs that's disappointing, but we've got to learn from it and move on."

Charlotte's Dwight Howard recorded a season-high-tying 26 points plus 18 rebounds and three blocks against one of his former teams. Kidd-Gilchrist chipped in 18 points and 11 rebounds while Walker added 13 points but on 5-for-15 shooting. Charlotte missed 17 of 21 3-point attempts.

Houston, conversely, was 16 of 35 on 3-pointers before going cold during garbage time in the fourth.

"That's their strength. That's where they're putting a lot of pressure on the league," Hornets forward Marvin Williams said. "They have guys that can shoot from all over the floor, and not just 3-pointers but 2, 3 feet behind the line. And they shoot so many of them.

"They have two great playmakers in James Harden and Chris Paul. They put a ton of pressure on your defense because they do have shooting everywhere."

NOTES: Hornets F Nicolas Batum missed the previous game with a left elbow injury but returned to the starting lineup and finished with nine points and nine rebounds. ... An added benefit to the Rockets' acquisition of G Chris Paul is the lessened workload on G James Harden. Entering Wednesday, Harden was averaging 35.9 minutes per game, his lowest in his six seasons with Houston. He played just 31 minutes against Charlotte. Harden led the NBA in total minutes in 2014-15 (2,981) and 2015-16 (3,125). ... Rockets F Luc Mbah a Moute dislocated his right shoulder after taking an awkward fall following a dunk late in the second quarter. Mbah a Moute is scheduled to undergo an MRI on Thursday morning, with the subsequent results to determine how long he will be sidelined.