HOUSTON -- The Houston Rockets were not going to get pushed around in their own building on Sunday afternoon.

While the national hype has been about LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the past month or so, the Rockets didn’t care and beat the Eastern Conference contenders 105-103 in overtime at the rocking Toyota Center. Along the way during the nearly three-hour game came a kick to the groin, a push to the chest, and cuss words that would make Kevin Hart proud.

In other words, the Rockets made a statement.

“For some reason I think people are still underrating us, and that’s fine,” said Rockets guard Patrick Beverley, who drew a third-quarter technical foul for a scrap with James, where he was pushed back down to the floor while trying to get up. “We just keep collecting wins and doing what we do. We know what we need to do and that’s defend, rebound and play together and we’ll win basketball games.”

This was a game with five technical fouls and 16 total fouls in the third quarter alone, which took 40 minutes to complete.

“I think the third quarter was an hour long,” joked Beverley, who did score 12 points in 35 minutes. “No, each team wanted to win and [fight]. This is basketball, I know the fans enjoyed watching this.”

In some ways this was old-school basketball. Slaps on the arm, Josh Smith got hit twice on a layup attempt and didn’t get a call, and MVP candidate James Harden was popped across the face. Then there was Harden receiving a flagrant foul for kicking James in the groin, Trevor Ariza getting a tech for mouthing off at the Cavs' bench and Beverley shouting unkind words after hitting big shots and getting whistled for bumping into Iman Shumpert during a fast break after he passed the ball.

Referee Danny Crawford and his crew had their share of video replay reviews and conversations with players upset about foul calls.

But Harden, who scored 33 points in 42 minutes, was proud to be a part of a game such as this.

“Yeah, like street ball,” he said. “You grow up playing in games like that. I’m just happy we came away with the victory.”

At one point during the second half, as Harden was dribbling the ball, James hooked his arm and the referees just kept watching like it was an MMA match.

“Lot of close calls, lot of interesting calls,” coach Kevin McHale said. “LeBron James and James Harden got hooked up on one over there on the right wing and I’m not sure what that was. Looked like square dancing to me, trying to swing the partner around."

McHale played in the 1980s when a hard foul was knocking your opponent to the ground and nobody was worried about a fine or suspension. Payback was carried out almost on a nightly basis when McHale was running around wearing Boston Celtics colors.

“Not only does he appreciate it, we are a spitting image of what he was as a player when you talk about the identity of your team,” veteran guard Jason Terry said, he of two NBA Finals appearances and a title. “He was tough and he tells you about it and he talks about it all day in practice and guys feed off that and they understand if you go out there and play like your coach was, when he was a player, you’re going to have a tough group.”

Harden said a tough, impressive win like this reminds him of what basketball is about in June.

To reach that level, you must beat teams like the Cavs. Then again, maybe the Cavs must beat teams like the Rockets, who currently own the longest win streak in the league at five games and improved to 5-0 in overtime.

The Rockets not only swept their five-game homestand, but swept the Cavs in their two regular-season meetings.

Houston used the grit of Harden, Smith, Beverley and Ariza, who defended James for the majority of the game, to win.

Sure, James missed two free throws in the closing moments that would have given the Cavs the lead, but if you’re asking the Rockets, that’s his problem.

“We’re growing as a team,” Harden said. “So earlier in the season when things got tough we didn’t know how to pull those situations out and lately we’ve been growing and believing in each other, and games like that, we find a way to win and that’s been our motto the entire season."