The Houston Rockets became the third team in NBA history to win 20 consecutive games, tying for the league’s second-longest winning streak with an 83-75 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night in Atlanta.

The Rockets joined the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33 straight) and 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (20) as the only teams to win 20 or more in a row.

Tracy McGrady scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half and Shane Battier had 15 points as Houston struggled to preserve their winning streak. They were held to their lowest first-half total during the span and trailed 33-32 at halftime.

A basket by Atlanta’s Marvin Williams with 5 seconds left in the game ended the Rockets’ streak of 10 straight wins by 10 or more points. Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 28 points, and Josh Smith had 16 points and a career-high 22 rebounds.

Hornets 100, Spurs 75: At New Orleans, Chris Paul had 26 points and 17 assists to guide the Hornets to a convincing victory over Southwest Division-leading San Antonio.

Tim Duncan had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs.

Nets 104, Cavaliers 99: At East Rutherford, N.J., Richard Jefferson scored 24 points, and New Jersey overcame LeBron James’ 42 points to hold off Cleveland and snap a six-game losing streak.

James moved into second place on Cleveland’s career scoring list, and added 11 rebounds and seven assists.

In 375 career games, James has 10,267 points. Austin Carr had 10,265 in 635 games. It won’t be long before James passes Brad Daugherty, who finished with 10,389 in 548 games.

Jazz 114, Bucks 110: At Milwaukee, Carlos Boozer had a go-ahead layup with 46.7 seconds and Utah held on to top the Bucks.

Deron Williams led Utah with 26 points and 13 assists, his ninth straight double-double and 41st overall.

Magic 110, Clippers 88: At Orlando, Fla., Dwight Howard had his league-leading 57th double-double of the season with 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Magic over Los Angeles.

76ers 83, Pistons 82: At Auburn Hills, Mich., Andre Iguodala scored 22 points and Philadelphia, despite not scoring over the final 2 minutes, 27 seconds, hung on to beat Detroit.

Knicks 91, Heat 88: At Miami, Jamal Crawford scored 23 points, and New York beat the Heat to snap a seven-game losing streak.

Mavericks 118, Bobcats 93: At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 points in 28 minutes, and Josh Howard added 24 points and the Mavericks snapped Charlotte’s five-game winning streak.

Nuggets 108, Grizzlies 86: At Denver, Kenyon Martin scored 23 points, and Carmelo Anthony had 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Nuggets past Memphis.

Warriors 117, Raptors 106: At Oakland, Calif., Monta Ellis scored 33 on 14-of-19 shooting and Baron Davis added 23 points and 15 assists to lead Golden State over Toronto.

Around the league

Miami’s Dwyane Wade didn’t wait long to begin rehabilitating his injured left knee. Wade had a shockwave treatment and will be limited to only non-contact exercise for the next 30 days. Also, the Heat signed Bobby Jones to a 10-day contract. … Cleveland guard Sasha Pavlovic returned to the lineup from a 23-game absence because of a sprained left foot. … Smush Parker, released by Miami earlier this week, signed a contract with the Los Angeles Clippers. Terms weren’t announced. … Forward Caron Butler is expected to return to Washington’s lineup tonight. Butler has missed 16 straight games because of a hip injury.