HOUSTON — The Houston Rockets overcame the loss of All-Star
center Yao Ming to a season-ending foot injury on Tuesday to record their 13th
straight victory with a 94-69 home rout of the Washington Wizards.
"I had a feeling we were going to come out with a lot of
effort, I just felt this team has really been building," Houston coach Rick
Adelman said.
"Losing Yao was a shock to them today but we’ve still been
talking about how we can win," he said.
"We just (have) to go out and everyone has to put in the
effort like we did tonight and continue to win."
Luther Head scored 18 points and the Rockets, who found out
Yao was gone for the rest of the season because of a stress fracture of his left
foot, cruised against the injury depleted Wizards, playing without stars Gilbert
Arenas and Caron Butler.
The Rockets have won all but one of their last 18 games.
Their winning streak is the longest by the Rockets since
their 1993-94 championship season. It also matches the longest streak of the NBA
season.
Tracy McGrady, who joined Yao as Rockets’ 1-2 punch, suffered
through a 2-for-11 shooting effort in the first three quarters before adding a
pair of slam dunks in the fourth to finish with 11 points.
The Rockets started the 41-year-old Dikembe Mutombo in place
of Yao, with Carl Landry coming off the bench with 12 points.
Michael Redd hit a three-point shot at the buzzer to give the
Milwaukee Bucks a 105-102 home win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Mo Williams had 37 points for the Bucks and LeBron James 35
for the Cavs, who were playing their second game since acquiring four players in
a major trade last week.
Steve Nash had 25 points and 13 assists and new teammate
Shaquille O’Neal posted 13 points and 11 rebounds in his best game with his new
team as the Phoenix Suns scored a 127-113 road victory over the Memphis
Grizzlies.
The Miami Heat ended an 11-game losing streak and earned
their 10th victory of the season as Shawn Marion scored 24 points in a 107-86
home win over the Sacramento Kings.
Al Jefferson and Rashad McCants both scored 22 points and the
lowly Minnesota Timberwolves overcame 34 points by Utah’s Carlos Boozer and beat
the visiting Jazz 111-100.
Kobe Bryant scored 30 points and added nine rebounds and
seven assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to their ninth straight victory, a
96-83 home triumph over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Monta Ellis scored 30 points as the Golden State Warriors scored a 105-99
home win over the Seattle SuperSonics.
