James Harden shot a career-high 50 points to help the Houston Rockets past the Denver Nuggets 118-108, and honour the Texas franchise's NBA title-winning teams.

The Rockets celebrated the 20th anniversary of their back-to-back trophies in 1994 and '95 in style on Thursday, with Harden becoming the first Houston player to score a half-century of points since 1996.

Harden also had an equal team-high 10 rebounds, while Randy Foye and Wilson Chandler led the Nuggets' scoring with 23 points apiece.

Houston's third straight win took them to a 46-22 record, one game behind the second-placed Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference.

The Phoenix Suns moved closer to play-off contention in the West, after beating the New Orleans Pelicans 74-72.

The Pelicans, ninth in the West, remain one game behind the Oklahoma City Thunder in eighth, while the Suns sit 10th - 2.5 games outside the top eight.

Minus star Anthony Davis, the Pelicans battled - and failed to score 20 points in any one quarter on a poor night for scoring.

The Pelicans shot at just above 37 per cent, while the Suns' netted basket rate from the field was below 35.

Marcus Morris (one from 11) and Eric Bledsoe (two from 15) were the worst culprits for Phoenix.

The Los Angeles Lakers recorded consecutive 50-loss seasons for the first time in their history, when they were humbled 80-73 by the Utah Jazz (31-37).

The Lakers trailed by just one point inside the final three minutes, Jazz's top two scorers Gordon Hayward (22) and Trey Burke (17) shot four points apiece thereafter.

A Burke lay-up and a jumper put the Jazz clear, before Hayward netted four free-throws to seal the win for Utah.

The battle between the two last-placed sides in each conference could not be split in regulation, with the Minnesota Timberwolves edging the New York Knicks 95-92 in overtime.

The Timberwolves snapped a six-match losing streak, and took their season record to 15-53 - the Western Conference cellar-dwellers handling the mantle of worst NBA record to the Knicks.

The Eastern Conference strugglers slipped to 14-54, and are front-runners for the number one draft pick.