Rockets’ streak hits 17
Tracy McGrady had 31 points and nine assists and Rafer Alston added a season-high 24 points, helping the Houston Rockets push their franchise-best winning streak to 17 games with a 113-98 victory over the Dirk Nowitzki-less Mavericks on Thursday night at Dallas.
Houston’s streak is tied for seventh best in NBA history. The Rockets will try moving into a tie for fourth Saturday night at home against New Orleans, the next team they’re trying to catch for a top-tier seed in the Western Conference. Houston already has gone from 24-20 to 41-20; the Hornets are 41-19.
The surprising part of the Rockets’ sustained run is that the last five wins have come since Yao Ming broke his left foot, ending his season.
“When we lost Yao, people thought we wouldn’t make (the playoffs),” Houston coach Rick Adelman said before the game. “But we’re showing we still can compete.”
Josh Howard scored 21 points and Jason Terry had 17 for Dallas, which lost its third straight and fourth in five games. The Mavs also had won 12 straight at home – but this time they were without Nowitzki, who was serving a one-game suspension for a hard foul on Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko.
Bulls 107, Cavaliers 96: At Chicago, Ben Gordon and Luol Deng scored 23 points apiece, and the Bulls overcame 39 points from LeBron James to beat Cleveland.
The Bulls went on a 17-point run early in the third quarter to grab a 66-53 lead, and Gordon scored nine straight during a 51-second burst late in the period to make it a 17-point game. That was enough to offset another outstanding effort by James.
Cleveland’s superstar made it look easy again after stealing the show in New York the previous night with 50 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds during a 119-105 victory, a performance that left the crowd chanting “MVP!”
He left the Chicago audience in awe, too, but left the building with a loss.
Spurs 108, Pacers 97: At San Antonio, Manu Ginobili scored 28 points to help the Spurs beat Indiana for their 11th straight win.
Tony Parker added 19 points in the game, which wasn’t close after halftime and saw Spurs coach Gregg Popovich get ejected in the second quarter. Tim Duncan had 12 rebounds and six points on 3-of-11 shooting.
Danny Granger led Indiana with 22 points.