The Houston Rockets reached first place in the Southwest Division after edging down the San Antonio Spurs 87-85 on Sunday.

Luis Scola scored the winning layup with 11.2 seconds left. Yao Ming twice fired passes inside to Scola in the final 30 seconds to push the Rockets a half-game ahead of the Spurs for the division lead.

Yao said he almost took a shot himself on what turned out to be the game-winner.

"I saw him at the last second," he added. "I was going to shoot. The ball was above my head when I found him."

The pass surprised Scola, who had moved to the basket in case Yao did shoot. "I wasn't expecting Yao to throw it," he said. "Fortunately, he passed it, I made it, we won."

The Argentine gave Houston an 84-83 lead with 29 seconds to go off a pass from Yao, but Parker put San Antonio back on top with a driving layup nine seconds later.

Yao's second pass to Scola made it an 86-85 game and Scola connected on the second of two free throws with three-tenths of a second left to wrap up the scoring.

Ron Artest scored 24 points to lead the Rockets (47-25) to their fourth consecutive victory. Scola ended up with 19 points and 17 rebounds.

Tim Duncan had 23 points and Tony Parker delivered 22 points and 12 rebounds for the Spurs (45-24), who dropped a half-game behind the Rockets for the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference.

San Antonio held a six-point lead with 3:36 to play before Houston rattled off seven consecutive points, including a putback dunk by Yao, who finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.

(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2009)