LaMarcus Aldridge starred for Portland Trail Blazers in a lively win over Miami Heat to keep the pressure on the NBA leaders.

Aldridge had 24 points and 12 rebounds, including 10 points in the third, when the Blazers outscored the Heat 33-16 to take control of the game before easing to a 99-83 victory on Thursday.

Wesley Matthews also had 18 points which helped to steer Portland clear of Oklahoma by 11 games in the Northwest Division and closed within 1-1/2 games of league leader Golden State.

Charlotte's Gerald Henderson scored a season-high 31 points and Kemba Walker added 29 to lead the Hornets past Toronto 103-95 to secure their fourth straight win.

New York's 120-96 home defeat by Houston stretched the Knicks' losing streak to 14; their worst ever within a single season.

The Rockets beat New York for the 11th successive time and handed the Knicks their 24th loss in 25 games.

James Harden had 25 points and nine assists in just three quarters, with the Rockets already up by 24 points at the last break, with Trevor Ariza adding 18 points.

Rookie Travis Wear scored a season-high 21 points for New York, which is closing in on its worst-ever losing streak of 20, which straddled the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons.

NBA results:

New York 96-120 Houston

Portland 99-83 Miami

Toronto 95-103 Charlotte