NBA Game Summary - New York at Houston

Houston, TX (Basketball News) - Yao Ming had 24 points, eight rebounds and four blocks to lead the Houston Rockets over the struggling New York Knicks, 90-83, at the Toyota Center.

David Wesley added 15 points for the Rockets, who have won two straight despite All-Star Tracy McGrady scoring just seven points. McGrady shot only 3- of-20 from the floor, but did have seven rebounds and six assists.

"If we want to be a great team, we can not play without Tracy," said Yao. "Tonight we were able to win. Even without his great scoring, we were able to play great defense."

Quentin Richardson had 19 points and Jamal Crawford tallied 15 for the Knicks, who have dropped nine straight and 15 of 16.

The Rockets led 47-46 at the start of the third quarter when they went on an 11-1 run to begin to pull away. Yao scored four points during the run, which he capped with a bucket at the 7:26 mark.

Houston kept the Knicks at bay the rest of the stanza and went into the fourth with a 69-60 lead.

New York cut the deficit to 71-64 early in the final quarter, but Rafer Alston hit a three-pointer with close to 9 1/2 minutes left to extend the lead to 10 points and the Rockets cruised to the finish.

"We had a horrible third quarter, and that has been our M.O. this year," said New York head coach Larry Brown. "We gave up 17 points on turnovers and that really killed us. When we got behind in the second half, we became impatient."

Alston ended with 14 points and seven assists for Houston, which won consecutive home games for just the second time this season.

Jalen Rose had 11 points for the Knicks, who have lost eight in a row on the road.

The two teams played to a 22-22 tie after one quarter.