McGrady, Yao boost Rockets by Denver

HOUSTON — Tracy McGrady scored 23 points and Yao Ming added 21 as the Houston Rockets finally held onto a lead to beat the Denver Nuggets 89-78 on Friday night.

The Rockets had squandered double-digit second-half leads in their last two losses to Philadelphia and Phoenix.

But on Friday they overcame an eight-point deficit midway through the second quarter and didn't trail again.

Andre Miller's nifty reverse layup got Denver within 76-70 with about 6 minutes left. But a 3-pointer by Rafer Alston followed by a monster two-handed dunk by Yao extended Houston's lead to 81-70.

Yao followed his dunk with a block on Kenyon Martin that sent the ball flying into the crowd and the Nuggets wouldn't threaten again.

Denver got 34 points from Carmelo Anthony in his best outing since the All-Star break, but he didn't get much help and only scored four points in the fourth. The Nuggets second-leading scorer was Marcus Camby with 10 points.

Houston outscored Denver 14-4 in the opening minutes of the third quarter, led by Yao's eight points, to build its two-point halftime lead to 60-48.

Anthony single-handedly led a comeback as he outscored the Rockets 12-4 in the next few minutes to cut the lead to four. Denver got within 66-63 after a 3-pointer by Marcus Camby, but Alston answered with a 3 and then McGrady added two free throws and a 3-pointer to stretch the lead back to 73-62 near the end of the third.

MAVERICKS 90, BOBCATS 76: At Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 points and Jason Terry had 17 as Dallas rallied from a halftime deficit to extend its club-record home winning streak to 16 games. Erick Dampier had nine points, 14 rebounds and two blocked shots for the Mavericks, who have won 20 of their last 22. Gerald Wallace's 14 points led the Bobcats, who have lost eight of their last 10, but beat the Jazz on Wednesday.

KINGS 102, HAWKS 93: At Atlanta, Brad Miller scored 24 points to lead five Kings in double figures in Sacramento's 102-93 win over Atlanta. The Kings, who have won three in a row and four of five, also got 19 points from Kevin Martin, 18 points each from Ron Artest and Mike Bibby and 12 from Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

BULLS 108, KNICKS 101: At New York, Ben Gordon scored 32 points in another huge game against New York, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 31 seconds left, and Chicago rallied to beat the NBA-worst Knicks. Kirk Hinrich added 33 points for the Bulls, who trailed by 16 points in the third quarter before he and Gordon, from nearby Mount Vernon, brought Chicago back to hand the Knicks their sixth straight loss and 22nd in 24 games.