Rockets extend streak to 18

Tracy McGrady and the Houston Rockets are making it look easy, even against the best teams in the Western Conference.

McGrady scored 41 points Saturday night and the Rockets stretched their winning streak to 18 games with a 106-96 victory over the New Orleans Hornets in Houston.

The Rockets have won their last nine games by double digits and moved into a tie with the Hornets in the overall conference standings. Houston, 13-15 in mid-December, closed within one game of San Antonio in the Southwest Division.

The Rockets have the NBA’s longest winning streak since the Los Angeles Lakers won 19 in a row in the 1999-2000 season. Houston became just the seventh team in history to win 18 or more consecutive games.

McGrady hit 17 of 27 shots, reaching 40 points for the fourth time this season. The Rockets also made a season-high 14 3-pointers, improving to 6-0 since Yao Ming went out with a foot injury.

Chris Paul scored 37 points for the Hornets, who had won five of their last six. Paul also had 11 assists.

Warriors 104, Magic 95: At Orlando, Fla., Baron Davis scored 33 points and Stephen Jackson had 20 as Golden State overcame a slow start to beat the Magic.

Bobcats 100, Wizards 97: At Washington, Jason Richardson scored 34 points and Charlotte stretched its winning streak to a franchise-record five consecutive games by holding off the Wizards.

Cavaliers 103, Pacers 95: At Cleveland, LeBron James scored 38 points and Anderson Varejao added 15 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Cavaliers past Indiana.

Delonte West scored 14 points, Joe Smith 12 and Wally Szczerbiak had 11 for Cleveland.

Celtics 119, Grizzlies 89: At Memphis, Tenn., Ray Allen scored 23 points and Paul Pierce added 19 to lead Boston to a victory over the Grizzlies, its eighth consecutive win.

Trail Blazers 120, Knicks 114 (OT): At New York, Brandon Roy scored eight of his 27 points in overtime and Portland overcame Nate Robinson’s career-high 45 points to beat the Knicks.

LaMarcus Aldridge also had a big overtime and finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Trail Blazers.

Hawks 97, Heat 94: At Atlanta, Joe Johnson scored 39 points and added eight assists to lead the Hawks past Miami.

Ricky Davis, who led Miami with 27 points, and Dwyane Wade, who added 24, both missed 3-pointers in the final minute.

Jazz 132, Nuggets 105: At Salt Lake City, Mehmet Okur made a career-high six 3-pointers, scoring 27 and adding 11 rebounds as Utah routed Denver.

Mavericks 111, Nets 91: At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored 34 points and became the leading scorer in franchise history, helping the Mavericks beat New Jersey.

Timberwolves 99, Clippers 96: At Los Angeles, Al Jefferson scored 30 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead Minnesota to a victory over the Clippers.