"The way they came out made it tough for us to bounce back," Brown said.

With O'Neal and James on the bench, Ariza drove for a reverse dunk with 7:17 left in the first half for a 39-27 Rockets lead. James returned a minute later, but he and the Cavs continued to struggle.

James backed into Battier with about 90 seconds left and missed a short shot after Chuck Hayes slapped the ball as James turned to shoot. No call was made, and Brown was ejected after storming onto the court and yelling at referee Scott Wall.

The Cavs scored 39 points in the first half, matching a season low, and trailed by 13. James went 3 for 11 from the field in the first half.

Cleveland didn't look much better in the third quarter, either, giving away six turnovers in the first five minutes. Mo Williams and O'Neal earned technical fouls as the Cavs' frustration boiled over.

"We let the zebras get to us, and we let it get away," O'Neal said.

The Rockets missed eight of their first 11 shots out of halftime and still stretched their lead to 60-43.

Houston led 68-58 heading to the fourth and James sank a 3-pointer with 11:10 left to cut the Cavs' deficit to seven. Rockets coach Rick Adelman earned a technical a minute later after Ariza fell to the floor on a drive and no foul was called.

James drove into Ariza and landed on his right elbow with 9:20 left, then stayed down for a few seconds, wincing in pain. He sank two free throws to cut Houston's lead to 71-66.

Ariza hit a jumper and Carl Landry put back an offensive rebound to push the lead back to nine. After Cleveland coughed up its 20th turnover, Ariza sank a 3-pointer and Houston led by 12 again.

NOTES: Cleveland was held under 101 points for the first time in six games. ... Cavs guard Daniel Gibson, a Houston native and former Texas star, left in the second quarter with a right hand bruise and did not return. ... The Cavaliers were trailing after the first quarter for only the third time in 17 games. ... The Rockets outscored Cleveland 18-2 in fast-break points.