Tracy McGrady rebounded from one of the worst games of his career with 28 points, Yao Ming had 17 points and 12 rebounds, and the Houston Rockets routed the Los Angeles Clippers 128-97 Tuesday night.

Houston shot a season-high 58.0 percent from the field, only the third time all season that the Rockets have shot at least 50 percent. All three games have resulted in road wins.

Rafer Alston had 17 points and 13 assists for the Rockets, who have won seven of their last eight games following a 5-16 slide. It was their fifth straight road victory over the Clippers and 10th in their last 11 meetings overall.

Sam Cassell scored 25 points for Los Angeles before he was ejected for arguing a foul against him late in the third quarter, and Cuttino Mobley had 23 points. Elton Brand, who will be in Houston on Sunday for his second All-Star game, scored 21 points before sitting out the fourth quarter.

The Clippers, who are second in the Pacific Division, have lost their last two games to teams that are last in their respective divisions. Chicago beat them 97-91 on Sunday.

Los Angeles played two men short, having traded backup center Chris Wilcox to Seattle for forward Vladimir Radmanovic a few hours before gametime. Quinton Ross, who sat out the second half of Sunday's win over Chicago, also wasn't available after a precautionary MRI on Monday revealed inflammation around a disc in his back.

McGrady led Houston to a 61-49 halftime lead with 19 points, after scoring just seven in Sunday's 90-83 win over the New York Knicks and shooting 3-for-20 from the field. The only other time the Rockets and Clippers met this season, on Dec. 17, the two-time NBA scoring champion shot 2-for-12 in the second half of an 89-81 loss.

The Rockets scored at least 30 points in every quarter, burning the Clippers time and time again in the third with a barrage of long-range perimeter shots. Cassell couldn't take anymore of it and vented his frustration at referee Eli Roe, who gave him two technical fouls after Cassell fouled Stromile Swift with 37.8 seconds left in the third and Houston ahead 91-74.

Alston's 3-pointer capped an 11-2 run that increased Houston's 14-point lead to 84-61 with 5:12 left in the third, and the Clippers got no closer than 14 points before the Rockets pulled away by 30 midway through the fourth quarter. The 31-point losing margin was one point shy of the Clippers' largest losing margin ever against the Rockets.

Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy got upset at referee Leon Wood over a foul called against center Chris Kaman in the first quarter, after Yao fell backwards under the Houston basket. Less than 2 minutes later, Yao was called for an equally questionable foul when Kaman crashed to the floor after driving around him. At that moment, Dunleavy put his hand in front of his face, made eye-contact with Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy and mouthed the words, "We're even."

(AP via China Daily February 16, 2006)