The Rockets continued their hot streak as they romped to a 108-89 rout over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday.
Yao Ming had the game-high 28 points and nine rebounds while Tracy McGrady contributed 15 points and eight assists.
The Rockets led by as many as 33 points and stretching their winning streak to a season-best six games with their ninth consecutive victory over the Hawks in Houston.
"We're getting better and better day by day," Yao Ming said. "But I remember the last time we talked about 'is the team the best you ever had' when we had a 6-1 (record), and then what happened."
With two games remaining before the All-Star break, the Rockets have won 10 of their last 11 games. But in the four home games in that stretch before this homestand, including the loss to Utah, the Rockets had outscored opponents by an average of 2.25 points. Since returning home with a nine-game road winning streak, they have beaten Cleveland by 15 points and Atlanta by 19.
"We put ourselves in a great position to keep on moving up," Rockets guard Tracy McGrady said. "We know this is a team that played (Friday) night. We are playing extremely well, and we didn't want to take them lightly. We came out focused and ready to play.
"It's all about business and taking care of home court right now. We've been playing extremely well on the road. We just have to do that at home, and I think the last two games we've shown that we are capable."
The rout of the Hawks was so thorough that the only starter who saw the court in the fourth quarter, Yao, left for the night with 10:24 left.
Elsewhere, the Indiana Pacers continued their recovery from a long losing streak with a second straight victory, Danny Granger inspiring the win with 29 points in a 101-93 triumph over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday.
The back-to-back wins, following a seven-game losing streak, have helped the Pacers climb to within half a game of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
"Obviously, I thought it was a very good win for our ballclub," Pacers coach Jim O'Brien told reporters.
"Winning is great. We love winning. I liked seeing people work so hard with a smile on their face."
Those smiles could disappear quickly, however, when the Pacers face the top two teams in the East (the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons) on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"I like to think we're making strides, but games against Boston and Detroit will show if we've made them."
Travis Diener added 15 points and nine assists and Jeff Foster 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Pacers, who played the second half without key scorer Mike Dunleavy after he suffered a bruised knee while tallying 11 points in the first half.
The Blazers played their second straight game without All-Star Brandon Roy, who is away because of a death in the family.
"We had a lot of open looks out there tonight, we just didn't knock down any shots," said Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge, who had 21 points and 11 rebounds in the losing cause.
David West had 33 points and 10 rebounds, Peja Stojakovic hit six three-pointers en route to 26 points and Chris Paul scored dished out 16 assists as the New Orleans Hornets scored a 112-99 home win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Rudy Gay gad 26 for Memphis, who lost their sixth straight games.
The New York Knicks snapped an eight-game losing streak by rallying from a 17-point deficit to produce a 99-98 road win over the Milwaukee Bucks as Jamal Crawford tallied 30 points.
The Utah Jazz had their 10-game winning streak snapped on Friday but came back with a 97-87 home win over the injury-depleted Chicago Bulls.
Carlos Boozer had 22 points and 12 rebounds for the winners.
Monta Ellis delivered 16 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter and the Golden State Warriors came through with a 10=5-102 home win over the Sacramento Kings, who got 21 points and 13 rebounds from Ron Artest.
Stephen Jackson added 26 points for the winners.
Source: China Daily/Agencies
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