Luis Scola

Andre Iguodala scored 28 points and the reeling 76ers returned home from a dreadful road trip to beat the Houston Rockets, 104-96, last night at the Wachovia Center. The Sixers needed to escape the Lone Star State to finally defeat a team from Texas. They lost at Dallas and San Antonio in the final two games of a 1-5 road trip and had lost five of seven overall, parking them in last place in the Atlantic Division. Heading home was the perfect tonic. Iguodala continued on his recent scoring surge and scored nine points in the third quarter to help the Sixers stretch the lead to 11. Lou Williams and Marreese Speights scored 15 points each off the bench for the Sixers.

Tracy McGrady had carried the Houston Rockets through their winning streak since Yao Ming went down with a foot injury. Yesterday, it was everyone else's turn to help him. Rafer Alston scored 31 points and hit eight three-pointers, both career highs, and the Rockets beat the visiting Los Angeles Lakers, 104-92, to stretch their streak to 22 and claim sole possession of first place in the Western Conference. Kobe Bryant scored 24 points for the Lakers and smothered McGrady on defense, helping hold the Houston star to 11 points on 4-for-16 shooting.

Minutes after the Houston Rockets beat the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers, Tracy McGrady was slurping down chicken noodle soup. He was sick all day, skipped the morning shootaround and showed up less than an hour before the game. Good thing Houston didn't need its All-Star guard too much in this one. Yao Ming had 22 points and 12 rebounds and Rafer Alston had 17 points and nine assists in the Rockets' 92-77 victory last night, their ninth win in 10 games. McGrady, sluggish and visibly ill throughout the game, scored eight points on 3-for-11 shooting.

Washington police said yesterday they are investigating a report that weapons were found inside a locker room at the Verizon Center, where the Wizards play. Last week, the Wizards said that guard Gilbert Arenas stored unloaded firearms in a container in his locker at the arena and that the NBA was looking into the situation. But a Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman did not mention Arenas or the team in a statement on the investigation. However, Arenas acknowledged he was being investigated after the Wizards' 110-98 loss to Oklahoma City at the Verizon Center last night; he did not specify if it was by the NBA or police.

With a smile on his face, Lou Williams said the way to keep 76ers rookie Marreese Speights interested is to feed him a dunk. In last night's 104-96 win over the Houston Rockets at the Wachovia Center, Williams and Speights combined for more than just tongue-in-cheek banter. They teamed up for 30 points. "You've got to keep Marreese interested," Williams said of his rookie teammate. "And the way you do that is get him a dunk. After you do that, he'll block shots and he'll rebound.

Stephon Marbury has reached an agreement to play for a professional team in China. Shanxi announced yesterday it was bringing in the former NBA All-Star. In a news release, the team said it expected to Marbury to play his first game on Jan. 27 against Qingdao. Wang Xingjiang, head of the Shanxi team, called the signing of Marbury "a reward to our fans" to help a struggling team. The team is 3-10 and in 12th place in a 17-team league. Xingjiang also said Marbury hoped to "up the Chinese market and sell his shoes.

The 76ers' ability to fight, scratch and claw even in the most dire situations was finally rewarded last night. Trailing by 16 points with 2 minutes, 20 seconds left in the third quarter, they fought back to earn a 111-107 win over the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center. The Sixers (15-24) snapped a seven-game losing streak and finished their Texas two-step trip with a split and plenty of admiration. They also beat the Rockets for a second time after posting a 100-88 victory last month.

The shots stopped falling, Boston's stars took over and just like that, the Houston Rockets' 22-game winning streak was history. Kevin Garnett scored 22 points and Paul Pierce added 20 as the Celtics beat the host Rockets last night, 94-74, stopping Houston's remarkable victory run. The Rockets hadn't lost since a 97-89 defeat to Utah on Jan. 27 and put together the NBA's second-longest winning streak. It ended 11 victories shy of the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers, who won 33 in a row. It was only Houston's second loss in 28 games and its fourth since a 97-93 loss in Boston on Jan. 2, a game Tracy McGrady sat out with a knee injury.

Shane Battier chuckled before revealing Houston's defensive game plan to stop LeBron James. "Well, we hoped he had a good time in New Orleans," Battier said. It was the visiting Rockets, though, who gave James the headache. Rafer Alston scored 22 points, Yao Ming added 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Houston tied a team record Tuesday night with its ninth straight road win, 93-85 over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who wasted a triple-double from James. The Rockets entered the NBA's unofficial midseason interruption as the Western Conference's hottest team and they didn't cool off, winning their ninth in a row to improve to 18-3 since Jan. 4. "We don't want to get tired of winning," said Tracy McGrady, who added 17 points on just 6-of-21 shooting.

This was one slow start the Houston Rockets couldn't overcome. Chris Bosh scored 27 points and Hedo Turkoglu had a season-high 23 as the Toronto Raptors beat the visiting Rockets yesterday, 101-88. "We had a poor first quarter and it cost us," Houston coach Rick Adelman said. "We could never get back from that. " Jarrett Jack added 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Raptors, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Andrea Bargnani also had 14 points, and Sonny Weems had 11. Carl Landry scored 25 points, Luis Scola had 21 points and 15 rebounds, and Aaron Brooks put in 20 for the Rockets, who had won two straight and five of six. Down 10 after the first quarter at Philadelphia on Friday, Houston came back to win, 96-91.

With the playoffs looming, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are finding a new gear. And they accomplished something yesterday that hadn't been done in more than 50 years. Each of them had 30 and 10 rebounds: James with 33 points and 10 rebounds, Bosh 31 points and 12 rebounds, and Wade, who shook off a bruised tailbone, 30 points and 11 boards. And the Miami Heat beat the visiting Houston Rockets, 125-119, for their eighth win in nine games. It was the first time since February 1961 that three teammates finished with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in a non-overtime game.

Stephon Marbury has reached an agreement to play for a professional team in China. Shanxi announced yesterday it was bringing in the former NBA All-Star. In a news release, the team said it expected to Marbury to play his first game on Jan. 27 against Qingdao. Wang Xingjiang, head of the Shanxi team, called the signing of Marbury "a reward to our fans" to help a struggling team. The team is 3-10 and in 12th place in a 17-team league. Xingjiang also said Marbury hoped to "up the Chinese market and sell his shoes.

Washington police said yesterday they are investigating a report that weapons were found inside a locker room at the Verizon Center, where the Wizards play. Last week, the Wizards said that guard Gilbert Arenas stored unloaded firearms in a container in his locker at the arena and that the NBA was looking into the situation. But a Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman did not mention Arenas or the team in a statement on the investigation. However, Arenas acknowledged he was being investigated after the Wizards' 110-98 loss to Oklahoma City at the Verizon Center last night; he did not specify if it was by the NBA or police.

This was one slow start the Houston Rockets couldn't overcome. Chris Bosh scored 27 points and Hedo Turkoglu had a season-high 23 as the Toronto Raptors beat the visiting Rockets yesterday, 101-88. "We had a poor first quarter and it cost us," Houston coach Rick Adelman said. "We could never get back from that. " Jarrett Jack added 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Raptors, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Andrea Bargnani also had 14 points, and Sonny Weems had 11. Carl Landry scored 25 points, Luis Scola had 21 points and 15 rebounds, and Aaron Brooks put in 20 for the Rockets, who had won two straight and five of six. Down 10 after the first quarter at Philadelphia on Friday, Houston came back to win, 96-91.

With a smile on his face, Lou Williams said the way to keep 76ers rookie Marreese Speights interested is to feed him a dunk. In last night's 104-96 win over the Houston Rockets at the Wachovia Center, Williams and Speights combined for more than just tongue-in-cheek banter. They teamed up for 30 points. "You've got to keep Marreese interested," Williams said of his rookie teammate. "And the way you do that is get him a dunk. After you do that, he'll block shots and he'll rebound.

Andre Iguodala scored 28 points and the reeling 76ers returned home from a dreadful road trip to beat the Houston Rockets, 104-96, last night at the Wachovia Center. The Sixers needed to escape the Lone Star State to finally defeat a team from Texas. They lost at Dallas and San Antonio in the final two games of a 1-5 road trip and had lost five of seven overall, parking them in last place in the Atlantic Division. Heading home was the perfect tonic. Iguodala continued on his recent scoring surge and scored nine points in the third quarter to help the Sixers stretch the lead to 11. Lou Williams and Marreese Speights scored 15 points each off the bench for the Sixers.

The shots stopped falling, Boston's stars took over and just like that, the Houston Rockets' 22-game winning streak was history. Kevin Garnett scored 22 points and Paul Pierce added 20 as the Celtics beat the host Rockets last night, 94-74, stopping Houston's remarkable victory run. The Rockets hadn't lost since a 97-89 defeat to Utah on Jan. 27 and put together the NBA's second-longest winning streak. It ended 11 victories shy of the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers, who won 33 in a row. It was only Houston's second loss in 28 games and its fourth since a 97-93 loss in Boston on Jan. 2, a game Tracy McGrady sat out with a knee injury.

Tracy McGrady had carried the Houston Rockets through their winning streak since Yao Ming went down with a foot injury. Yesterday, it was everyone else's turn to help him. Rafer Alston scored 31 points and hit eight three-pointers, both career highs, and the Rockets beat the visiting Los Angeles Lakers, 104-92, to stretch their streak to 22 and claim sole possession of first place in the Western Conference. Kobe Bryant scored 24 points for the Lakers and smothered McGrady on defense, helping hold the Houston star to 11 points on 4-for-16 shooting.

The day after the Houston Rockets found out that Yao Ming was going to miss the rest of the regular season with a stress fracture in his left foot, the team assembled in the locker room. The talk was how most observers around the league were officially declaring the Rockets dead. That's when Tracy McGrady stood up. "He said, '[Obscenity] that,' " according to an eyewitness. " '[Obscenity] all that stuff. We've got enough in here right now.' " That McGrady has quite the potty mouth is secondary to the bigger development.

Shane Battier chuckled before revealing Houston's defensive game plan to stop LeBron James. "Well, we hoped he had a good time in New Orleans," Battier said. It was the visiting Rockets, though, who gave James the headache. Rafer Alston scored 22 points, Yao Ming added 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Houston tied a team record Tuesday night with its ninth straight road win, 93-85 over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who wasted a triple-double from James. The Rockets entered the NBA's unofficial midseason interruption as the Western Conference's hottest team and they didn't cool off, winning their ninth in a row to improve to 18-3 since Jan. 4. "We don't want to get tired of winning," said Tracy McGrady, who added 17 points on just 6-of-21 shooting.