James Harden scored 30 or more points for the 25th straight game – but his Houston Rockets side were downed by the Denver Nuggets 136-122.

A late three-point shot saw Harden pass the milestone at which point the game was already beyond doubt with Nikola Jokic scoring 31 points and Malik Beasley 35.

The Nuggets sit on top of the Northwest Division and extended their purple patch to five games, while Houston have now lost two on the trot.

Russell Westbrook got his fifth-straight triple-double – finishing with 14 points, 12 rebounds and 14 assists – as the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame the Miami Heat 118-102.

The Thunder are now unbeaten in seven with Paul George scoring 43 points in the victory.

Elsewhere, Kyrie Irving had a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds as the Boston Celtics saw off the New York Knicks 113-99 and the Charlotte Hornets beat the Memphis Grizzlies 100-92.

Rudy Gobert had 25 points and Ricky Rubio added 22 as the Utah Jazz beat the Atlanta Hawks 128-112.