Rockets beat Dirk-less Mavs
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION

17 IN A ROW - Houston's Tracy McGrady (left) drives to the basket around Dallas' Jason Kidd during the first half Thursday. Houston won its 17th straight.

DALLAS (AP) - So what if the Dallas Mavericks were without Dirk Nowitzki? The Houston Rockets have been without Yao Ming for five games now and it hasn't slowed them down.

Tracy McGrady highlighted a 31-point, nine-assist performance with a dunk off a halfcourt pass from Rafer Alston early in the fourth quarter and the Rockets beat the Nowitzki-less Mavericks 113- 98 Thursday night.

It extended Houston's franchise-record winning streak to 17 games and it was the fifth win since Yao was lost to a season-ending foot injury.

The Mavericks (39-23) are back in action Saturday night at 7:30 at home against New Jersey. The Mavs are now in the No. 7 seed in the West.

"Whoever we play, whoever's on the court, that's our task," McGrady said. "Last season he was out for 21/2 months, so now we're back to that same situation. We have to play more small ball. Rick's offense really benefits the team we have without Yao."

In coach Rick Adelman's first year with the Rockets, he has already has made a dent in the record books. This win streak matches the seventh longest in NBA history.

Houston will try moving into a tie for fourth Saturday night at home against New Orleans, the next team they can catch for a top-tier seed in the Western Conference. The Rockets are 41-20, the Hornets 41-19.

"There is just a real confidence about the way (we're) playing," Adelman said. "There's a trust in each other and it's just a pleasure to see. As a coach, it's just fun to watch a group of guys come together like they have and maintain this over such a period of time."

In other NBA games Thursday, Chicago overcame 39 points from LeBron James to beat Cleveland 107-96, and San Antonio won its 11th straight by beating Indiana 108-97.

Josh Howard scored 21 points and Terry had 17 for Dallas, which lost its third straight and fourth in five games. The Mavs also had won 12 straight at home - but this time they were without Nowitzki, who was serving a one-game suspension for a hard foul on Utah's Andrei Kirilenko.

"We definitely missed him," Dallas coach Avery Johnson said. "But no excuse for our performance tonight. We just had an awful, awful third quarter."

After consecutive long jumpers by Jason Kidd tied it at 55 early in the period, the Rockets answered with a 13-3 run and weren't challenged again. The Alston-to-McGrady alley-oop pushed Houston's lead to 19. A timeout followed and fans started leaving with 8:42 left.