USA - Yao piles more misery on Indiana

NEW YORK (NBA) - With their offense struggling against the Indiana Pacers, the Houston Rockets looked to China superstar Yao Ming to bring them home.

Yao scored 32 points and hauled in 14 rebounds as the Rockets posted an 86-76 victory over the Pacers, who lost their eighth straight road game.

Tracy McGrady had 20 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists for Houston (43-25), who trail the Utah Jazz (44-23) by 1 1/2 games for the fifth-best record in the Western Conference.

Leading, 61-59, at the end of three quarters, the Rockets turned to Yao, who scored 13 points, including 9-of-10 from the free-throw line in the final period, to help produce the double-digit win.

Raja Bell scored 22 points and Brazil's Leandro Barbosa scored 20 points as the Suns clinched their third straight Pacific Division title with a 108-90 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Steve Nash, second in the race to be MVP, collected 18 and 11 assists for the Suns (51-16), who have had one of their most successful seasons in team history but are still 4 1/2 games behind Dallas (55-11) for the top spot in the Western Conference and the NBA's best record.

Kevin Garnett had 30 points and 16 rebounds for Minnesota, who are now are 2 1/2 games behind Golden State (32-37) and the Los Angeles Clippers (31-36) for the final play-off spot in the Western Conference.

Josh Howard had 24 points and 10 rebounds and Germany's Dirk Nowitzki also added 24 as the Dallas Mavericks used a decisive third-quarter run en route to a 92-77 victory over the New York Knicks.

Erick Dampier had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Mavericks, who posted their third straight win since a rare two-game skid.

Nowitzki shot 10-of-15 from the field, including nailing his only 3-pointer, for Dallas, who outscored injury-hit New York, 24-13, in the third quarter for a 70-56 cushion.

New York are one game behind New Jersey and Orlando for the final play-off spot in the East.

Carlos Boozer collected 25 points and tied a career high with 21 rebounds and Paul Millsap added 16 as the Jazz snapped a four-game losing streak with a 104-100 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

All-Star Boozer continued his stellar play, shooting 11-of-18 from the floor.

Millsap eventually iced the game with his first career three-pointer, a desperation heave with time running out that made it 104-97 with seven seconds left after the Warriors held an 82-73 lead late in the fourth quarter.

All-Star Carmelo Anthony scored 30 points and Allen Iverson added 20 as the Nuggets posted a 94-90 victory over the New Jersey Nets.

The Nuggets (34-31) moved percentage points ahead of the idle Los Angeles Lakers (35-32) for sixth place in the Western Conference play-off race.

Vince Carter scored 29 points and Richard Jefferson added 18 for New Jersey (31-37), who fell into an eighth-place tie with Orlando (31-37) and New York (30-36) in the Eastern Conference.

Tayshaun Prince scored 30 points to lead four players in double figures as the Detroit Pistons coasted to a 96-75 victory over the slumping Philadelphia 76ers.

Rookie pair Adam Morrison and Walter Herrmann each hit three-pointers in overtime to lead the Charlotte Bobcats to a 108-100 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Elsewhere, New Orleans beat Memphis 114-103, LA Clippers 103 saw off Chicago 103-99 and Portland completed a season series sweep over Washington 100-98.

PA Sport