NBA 2018-19: 3 Talking Points as Miami Heat escape with a victory against the Houston Rockets

The Miami Heat won against the Rockets 101-99 in what was a tight encounter throughout. The Heat are now on their first three game winning streak of the season while the Rockets saw their five-game winning streak snapped.

The Rockets set an NBA record, 26 made three-pointers in their last game and connected on 18 three-pointers on 54 attempts in this match. Chris Paul suffered from another hamstring injury and had to leave the match. Rockets were leading 45-38 when Paul was sidelined. The Rockets are 1-7 this season when Paul and Harden aren't playing together.

With the victory, the Heat improved to a 14-16 record and are currently lying at the 9th position in the Eastern Conference playoff standings. Meanwhile, the Rockets, who seemed to have turned their season around are lying at the 8th position with a 16-15 record in the deep Western Conference.

Here are the top 3 takeaways from the match.

#3 Great defensive effort shown by the Miami Heat

Miami Heat have been playing great recently

The Miami Heat are 4-4 in games where they have shot less than 40% from the floor. The rest of the league is 9-103. This was another such instance when the Heat shot a poor 38.7% from the field and only 23.1% from the 3 PT line. But the Heat somehow escaped with a victory.

They showed great effort on defense competing on every possession and restricted the Rockets to only 35.4% shooting from the floor. James Harden who leads the league in scoring went only 7-23 from the field and mostly managed to score points only from the free throw line.

None of the starters for the Houston Rockets shot more than 50% from the floor as they struggled to score against a Heat side that rank top ten in defense this season.

#2 Loss of Chris Paul

Chris Paul has been pivotal for Rockets since they traded for him last season. They might have even beaten the mighty Warriors if Paul hadn't suffered the injury that kept him out of the game 7 of their Western Conference final match ups. This season the Rockets are 1-7 when both Paul and harden aren't playing together.

His loss was felt in this match too. The Rockets were leading 45-38 when Paul went to the locker room and the Rockets lost control of the match from that point onwards. James Harden got his share of the points scoring the game-high 35 points. Gordon also chipped in with 20 points. But these performances were not enough for the Rockets.

In the last possession, the Heat gathered around harden and prevented him from taking the final shot. Eric Gordon missed the three pointer and the Heat got the win.

#1 Domination on the boards by the Miami Heat

Miami Heat are on a three game winning streak — Miami Heat are on a

The Miami Heat showed total domination on the glass in this match. They out rebounded the Rockets 61-41. They had a 20-8 advantage on the offensive rebounds. All these extra possessions and second-chance points proved pivotal in a match where neither team shot the ball well.

Hassan Whiteside led the team with 17 rebounds. But he finished with 0 blocks ending his 26 game streak with 1 or more blocks. All the other players chipped in and showed great effort throughout the match. This kind of advantage on the boards at your home almost always guarantees a victory.

Josh Richardson scored a team-high 22 points. Dwayne Wade, who is in the final season of his career, added 10 points to the team total.

The Heat next host the high flying Milwaukee Bucks and will be hoping to maintain their winning streak.