Rockets tame Spurs

Yao Ming had 28 points and 13 rebounds to help the Houston Rockets snap a four-game, home-court losing streak to San Antonio with an 89-81 win over the Spurs on Tuesday night.

Bonzi Wells added 14 points and 15 rebounds for Houston, which controlled Tim Duncan and outrebounded the sluggish Spurs 55-28. Duncan scored 14 and grabbed 10 rebounds, but went only 5 for 15 from the field.

Tracy McGrady struggled with his shooting, too, going 4 of 14 and scoring only 12. McGrady had nine rebounds and dished out six of the Rockets’ season-high 25 assists.

Yao scored seven points and grabbed two rebounds in the final quarter. He flipped in two shots over Duncan, then hit two free throws in the final 2:37 to keep the Rockets in control.

“Every year, Yao is getting better,” said Duncan. “The Rockets showed their confidence in him, when they go through him at the end of the game like they did tonight. He made some big shots and was tough to stop.”

Hornets 118, Lakers 104: At Los Angeles, Peja Stojakovic made a franchise-record 10 3-pointers, and Chris Paul set another Hornets mark with 21 assists as New Orleans beat the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant had 28 points for Los Angeles.

Cavaliers 108, Warriors 104: At Oakland, Calif., LeBron James had 24 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists, and Damon Jones’ 3-pointer with 2:30 to play put Cleveland ahead to stay in a win over Golden State.

Clippers 97, Bulls 91: At Chicago, Cuttino Mobley scored 33 points and Corey Maggette added 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists to lead Los Angeles over the Bulls.

Nets 87, Hawks 82: At East Rutherford, N.J., Richard Jefferson scored 25 points and Antoine Wright added 15 to lead New Jersey to a win over Atlanta.

Knicks 119, Nuggets 112: At New York, Zach Randolph had 22 points and 17 rebounds, three other players scored more than 20 points, and New York erased a series of double-digit deficits to beat Denver.

Magic 111, Timberwolves 103: At Minneapolis, in a matchup of two of the best young power forwards in the game, Dwight Howard edged his classmate Al Jefferson, scoring 28 points and grabbing 16 rebounds as Orlando kept Minnesota winless.

Jefferson was quiet for the first three quarters, managing just 13 points and four rebounds, but he scored 12 points in the fourth to help the Timberwolves make things interesting.

Bucks 112, Raptors 85: At Milwaukee, Desmond Mason was 10 for 10 from the field and scored 21 points as the Bucks cruised to a victory over Toronto.

Suns 115, Bobcats 83: At Charlotte, N.C., Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell and Shawn Marion led eight players in double figures with 16 points apiece and Phoenix continued its dominance of the Eastern Conference with a win over Charlotte.

Phoenix has won 15 of its last 16 road games against Eastern teams dating to last season.