DWYANE WADE scored 26 points, including a jumper that made it a two-possession game with 35.8 seconds remaining, and the Miami Heat rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat the Houston Rockets 90-85 in a preseason game Tuesday night.

    “I knew I was going to come out and be aggressive,” Wade said. He was more relieved by the Heat’s turnaround, with victories in their last three games, “This last week, guys have really taken it to another level.”

    Chris Bosh added 22 points.

    “That’s what we wanted,” he said of the sustained effort. “It’s time to start topping out fourth-quarter legs.”

    Mario Chalmers contributed a solid effort off the bench, with 13, clearly the Heat’s best point on this night.

    Wade added six assists and backup center Chris Andersen had seven rebounds, somehow finding a way to also convert a pair of jumpers.

    It was a game that also tempered projections about Heat rookie point guard Shabazz Napier, who missed all seven of his shots in 21 scoreless minutes.

    The Heat open their regular season next Wednesday against the visiting Washington Wizards, with LeBron James not in the Heat’s season-opening lineup for the first time in five years.

    Similarly, the Rockets will enter the season without 2014-15 mainstays Chandler Parsons, Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik, having made an all-or-nothing run at Bosh during free agency.

    In what largely came down to a battle of Big Twos, James Harden and Dwight Howard closed with 19 points apiece for the Rockets, with coach Kevin McHale keeping going without them during the decisive stages.

    The Heat again were without projected starting power forward Josh McRoberts, who continues to recover from offseason toe surgery.(SD-Agencies)