HOUSTON: Tracy McGrady had 41 points and nine assists as the Houston Rockets won their 18th consecutive game with a 106-96 win over New Orleans on Saturday.
McGrady fell just six points short of his season high for points as the Rockets extended their franchise-record win streak.
McGrady finished 17-of-27 from the floor, including 3-of-8 from the 3-point line as the Rockets set a season high with 14 3-pointers.
The Rockets won their sixth in a row since Chinese All-Star Yao Ming went out for the season with a stress fracture in his left foot. Yao had surgery earlier in the week.
"I'm not impressed with what I brought to the table because I've been playing well for the last few games," said McGrady. "I'm just more impressed with how we got the win. Right now, we're getting everyone's 'A' game. That was a tough team that came in here ready to play, and we pulled it out.
"Tracy was ready (Saturday) morning. You could tell," head coach Rick Adelman added. "I mentioned 'If you win this game, you tie these guys for the third seed' and I don't think he realized that."
The Hornets tested the Rockets as no one has in the latter half of the streak. Though the Rockets led by as much as 17, Paul would not let them take control of the game. He finished with 37 points and 11 assists, and kept Rafer Alston in foul trouble enough that Alston played only 31 minutes on a night he continued his recent run of sharpshooting.
Houston (42-20) - on a 12-game winning streak at home - has won 22 of 23 and is 27-4 since the start of 2008, pushing it into third place in the Western Conference playoff picture.
The Rockets should have a good chance of winning their next three, playing New Jersey and Charlotte at home sandwiched around a road trip to New Orleans.
McGrady scored 10 points for Houston in the first quarter, but New Orleans led 23-20 at the end of the period on Saturday.
The Rockets rallied in the fourth and cruised to the longest win streak in the NBA this season.
In Memphis, Kevin Garnett became the 32nd NBA player in history to surpass the 20,000-point plateau in the Boston Celtics' 119-89 win over Memphis.
Garnett finished with 17 points while his All-Star teammates Ray Allen and Paul Pierce added 23 and 19 respectively as the Celtics won their seventh straight.
The Atlanta Hawks won the NBA's first replay since 1983, holding off the Miami Heat 114-111 in overtime to complete a protested game.
The Hawks then won the regularly scheduled contest 97-94 as Joe Johnson matched a season high with 39 points.
The teams opened the night by replaying the final 51.9 seconds of a December 19 game, which was protested by the Heat after the Atlanta statistics crew mistakenly ruled former Heat center Shaquille O'Neal had fouled out in the extra period.
The game resumed from the point of the protest and neither team scored during their brief time on the court. They got a 15-minute break, then returned to the court for their regularly scheduled game.
Source: China Daily/Agencies
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