OKLAHOMA CITY — Tracy McGrady feels like he's back to square one with a troublesome left knee that gave out on him again. At least his Houston Rockets seem able to pick up the slack if he's going to be sidelined.

Luis Scola scored 23 points, Yao Ming added 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Houston made a second-half surge without its injured seven-time All-Star to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 100-89 on Monday night.

Offseason pickup Ron Artest also had an injury scare, but the Rockets still had enough firepower to hand the tumbling Thunder their eighth straight loss.

"We have depth. We have guys that we trust and guys that really can play. They went out there and we all played together, kept fighting hard and sustained a lead and came away with the victory," point guard Rafer Alston said.

McGrady left the game in the opening minute of the second half after aggravating his left knee, which was operated on this offseason to have loose bodies removed. He didn't return.

"Tonight I went back to square one, even before surgery, is how my knee is feeling right now," McGrady said.

The two-time NBA scoring champion came in averaging only 16.7 points and left after scoring eight points in the first half. Even without him, the Rockets were still able to mount a 14-3 run powered by Scola and Yao to start the second half.

Artest extended the lead to 77-58 when he stepped behind Kevin Durant's back to knock the ball away and set himself up for a right-handed dunk.

All McGrady could do was watch from the bench, where he draped a towel across his shoulders. He planned to have an MRI on Tuesday.

"I want to play, man. I want to play. Just to get off to this start, for me personally this is a bad start," McGrady said. "To have to play your way through an injury that I've never had before and a surgery that was my first surgery is very frustrating. My game is really based on athleticism, and that's something that I don't have right now."

SPURS 86, CLIPPERS 83: At Los Angeles, Roger Mason's 3-pointer with 8.4 seconds remaining lifted San Antonio over Los Angeles for its third straight victory.

Tim Duncan had 20 points, 15 rebounds and six blocked shots. Michael Finley added 19 points for the short-handed Spurs, who have won nine straight and 17 of 18 over the Clippers.

Cuttino Mobley led the Clippers (1-9) with 18 points. Chris Kaman added 17 points and 13 rebounds, and Baron Davis had 11 points and eight assists, but shot just 5-of-17.