Rockets make it 20 straight
Houston equals NBA's 2d-longest win streak
The Houston Rockets became the third team in NBA history to win 20 consecutive games, tying for the league's second-longest winning streak with an 83-75 victory over the Hawks last night in Atlanta.
The Rockets joined the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33 straight) and 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (20) as the only teams to win 20 or more in a row.
Tracy McGrady scored 21 of his 28 points in the second half and Shane Battier had 15 points as Houston struggled to preserve its winning streak. The Rockets were held to their lowest first-half total during the span and trailed, 33-32, at halftime.
A basket by Atlanta's Marvin Williams with five seconds left ended the Rockets' streak of 10 straight wins by 10 or more points. Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 28 points.
With the Rockets leading, 71-70, with five minutes remaining, McGrady scored 5 points in Houston's 10-0 run to take control.
Hornets 100, Spurs 75 - Chris Paul had 26 points and 17 assists to help host New Orleans take a convincing victory over Southwest Division-leading San Antonio.
David West, returning from an ankle injury that sidelined him for three games, had 29 points and 10 rebounds as New Orleans pulled within a half-game of the division lead behind the Spurs and Rockets.
Nets 104, Cavaliers 99 - Richard Jefferson scored 24 points, and New Jersey overcame LeBron James's 42 points to hold off Cleveland in East Rutherford, N.J., and snap a six-game losing streak.
Magic 110, Clippers 88 - Dwight Howard had his league-leading 57th double-double of the season with 22 points and 13 rebounds in host Orlando's victory over Los Angeles.
76ers 83, Pistons 82 - Andre Iguodala scored 22 points and Philadelphia hung on for a victory over Detroit in Auburn Hills, Mich.
Jazz 114, Bucks 110 - Carlos Boozer had a go-ahead layup with 46.7 seconds left and visiting Utah narrowly avoided another surprising road loss.
Warriors 117, Raptors 106 - Monta Ellis scored 33 points and Baron Davis had 23 points and 15 assists in Golden State's victory over Toronto for its seventh victory in eight games.
Mavericks 118, Bobcats 93 - Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 points in 28 minutes, and Josh Howard added 24 points as host Dallas snapped Charlotte's franchise-record five-game winning streak.
Nuggets 108, Grizzlies 86 - Kenyon Martin scored 23 points, and Carmelo Anthony had 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead Denver over visiting Memphis.
Knicks 91, Heat 88 - Jamal Crawford scored 23 points and visiting New York snapped a seven-game losing streak.
