James Harden had 38 points and 17 assists as the Rockets defeated the Pelicans 117-107 in Houston.
Clint Capela had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Houston won its third straight and is 6-and-1 in its last seven games.
Anthony Davis scored 33 points and hauled in 16 boards. DeMarcus Cousins had 29 points.
New Orleans had its three-game winning streak snapped and it was a costly defeat because eighth-place Denver won at Indiana, increasing the gap between the clubs to five games. The Pelicans will visit Denver on Sunday, the first of three head-to-head meetings between the squads between March 26 and April 7.
“I thought we played well," Coach Alvin Gentry said. "You’re playing against a great team with a great player, arguably the MVP of the league. He made plays down the stretch. We weren’t able to make them. That’s what it came down to. We played hard, competed like crazy.”