Newest Knick Coach Loses to an Old One

Lenny Wilkens lost for the first time as coach of the New York Knicks as Yao Ming had a season-high 29 points and 10 rebounds to help the Houston Rockets win, 86-71, Wednesday night at Houston.

Wilkens won his first three games after replacing Don Chaney on Jan. 15, and the Knicks had won four in a row overall.

“Yao was obviously the dominant force,” said Rocket Coach Jeff Van Gundy, who beat his old team for the second time this season. “When he makes his jump shot, he’s really hard to guard. They played two types of defenders on him . I thought he did a good job playing to his strength against each guy.”

The Knicks tried to slow Yao with Dikembe Mutombo and Michael Doleac, but Yao kept shooting. He made 12 of 15 shots.

The Knicks scored nine points in the second quarter -- a season low for a Houston opponent -- and didn’t get a basket in the period until Mutombo scored with 5:33 left. Allan Houston and Penny Hardaway had 12 points apiece for the Knicks.

San Antonio 99, New Jersey 76 -- Manu Ginobili scored all eight of his points in an 18-6 run at the start of the fourth quarter at San Antonio, helping the defending champion Spurs win a rematch of the 2003 NBA Finals.

San Antonio outscored New Jersey, 28-12, in the fourth quarter in the Nets’ first appearance at the SBC Center since they lost the decisive sixth game of the finals in June.

Tim Duncan led San Antonio with 21 points and 17 rebounds. Kerry Kittles had 24 points for New Jersey.

Minnesota 108, Toronto 97 -- Sam Cassell had 14 points in the final 6:10 en route to 30 points and 13 assists at Toronto to lead the Timberwolves to their seventh victory in eight games.

Kevin Garnett added 28 points and 11 rebounds and Latrell Sprewell had 24 points for Minnesota, 19-4 in its last 23 games.

Donyell Marshall had 22 points for the Raptors, who have lost three in a row.

Philadelphia 92, New Orleans 86 -- Glenn Robinson scored 23 points as the 76ers used a 27-10 third-quarter run to end a three-game losing streak and beat the undermanned Hornets at New Orleans.

New Orleans’ regular starting guards Baron Davis (sprained ankle) and David Wesley (sprained toe) were sidelined, forcing Coach Tim Floyd to start Darrell Armstrong (29 points) and Steve Smith (12 points).

Milwaukee 113, Orlando 102 -- Michael Redd scored 32 of his career-high 40 points in the second half of the Bucks’ victory at Milwaukee.

Redd, who made his final 10 shots, was 16 for 25 from the field. Juwan Howard had 24 points for Orlando.

Denver 97, Phoenix 92 -- Earl Boykins and Marcus Camby combined to score the Nuggets’ last 18 points at Denver, ending the Suns’ four-game winning streak.

Camby and Andre Miller finished with 22 points apiece for Denver. Joe Johnson led Phoenix with 28 points.

Atlanta 97, Chicago 87 -- Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored eight points in an 11-0 run in the final 3:36 at Atlanta to help the Hawks move out of last place in the Central Division, a half-game ahead of the Bulls.

Abdur-Rahim and Stephen Jackson had 22 points apiece for the Hawks. Kendall Gill and Eddie Robinson had 17 points each for Chicago, which lost its fifth in a row.