Rockets visit Southwest Division-rival San Antonio

San Antonio has thoroughly dominated this series as of late. The Spurs have won seven straight and 14 of their 16 games against the Rockets, who have lost 17 in a row in San Antonio as well.

Houston actually has never won at the AT&T Center. The Rockets are 0-8 lifetime since the arena opened for business at the start of the 2002-03 season.

The Southwest Division-leading Spurs are currently riding a five-game overall win streak and dealt Memphis a 105-98 defeat on Wednesday. Tim Duncan scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the way.

Michael Finley scored 20 points off of the bench for the Spurs, who have won nine of 10 and lead the Rockets by 4 1/2 games in the division standings. Tony Parker added 18 points and 10 assists to the triumphant effort.

San Antonio will wrap up a three-game homestand tonight and is an outstanding 10-3 at the AT&T Center in 2006-07.

The Rockets have played the last five games without All-Star Tracy McGrady, who is battling back spasms, and lost four of them. Houston was just handed a narrow defeat Wednesday at Portland, which came through with an 89-87 win behind Zach Randolph’s 24 points and 13 rebounds.

The loss overshadowed a 34-point effort by Houston center Yao Ming, who also grabbed nine boards. Rafer Alston finished with 20 points and eight assists for the Rockets.

Yao has now averaged 33 points and 11.4 rebounds with McGrady, who again is not expected to be available tonight, out of the lineup over the last five games.

Houston will finish up a five-game road trip this evening. The Rockets are 1-3 so far on the trek and 7-8 away from home for the season.