Streaking Rockets Have No Problem

Tracy McGrady scored 34 points and Yao Ming had 23, leading the Rockets to their eighth win in a row, a 123-93 victory over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night at Houston.

The Rockets’ streak is their longest since March 1999. It’s also a franchise record for consecutive wins before the All-Star break.

Houston, which shot 59.5% (50 of 84) in reaching its second-highest point total of the season, never led by fewer than nine after the first quarter.

Antawn Jamison had 23 points for Washington, which lost its fifth in a row on the road.

Minnesota 82, New Jersey 71 -- Michael Olowokandi had 17 points and 12 rebounds at Minneapolis in the first coaching victory for Kevin McHale, the vice president of basketball operations who fired and replaced Flip Saunders on Saturday.

Vince Carter had 32 points for New Jersey.

Chicago 107, Sacramento 102 -- Rookie Ben Gordon scored 11 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Bulls end an 11-game losing streak to the visiting Kings dating to Feb. 28, 1998.

Brad Miller had 23 points for Sacramento.

Chicago’s Tyson Chandler sat out the game after learning of the death of a close friend.

Denver 100, Atlanta 96 -- Carmelo Anthony’s jump shot with nine-tenths of a second left gave the Nuggets their first victory at Atlanta since Dec. 10, 1988. Anthony had 22 points to help the Nuggets overcome a 15-point, third-quarter deficit and end a 14-game losing streak in the city.

Dallas 114, Golden State 107 -- Dirk Nowitzki had 35 points and 11 rebounds, and the Mavericks used a 12-2 fourth-quarter run to improve to 3-0 on a five-game trip. Jason Richardson had 26 points for Golden State.