The wonderful performance of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady gifted Houston Rockets another win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, which was Rockets' seventh win in 10 NBA games.

McGrady scored 21 points while Yao Ming had 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Rockets upset the Clippers 96-79 at home. Jim Jackson also contributed 21 points to the Rockets today (Dec 26th).

Rockets had beaten Clippers 91-86 in Los Angeles last month.

In other NBA matches today, LeBron James came within one rebound of becoming the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double on Sunday hitting for 22 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds as Cleveland beat New Orleans 100-91.

The defeat was the 12th consecutive road loss for the Hornets while Cleveland improved to 11-2 at home.

In Phoenix, Amare Stoudemire scored 33 points and was given plenty of support from Steve Nash, Quentin Richardson and Shawn Marion who each poured in 18 as the Suns defeated the Toronto Raptors 106-94, improving their NBA best record to 24-3 with an 11th straight win.

The Suns had led by as many as 20 but allowed the struggling Raptors to pull level at 80-80 with just under nine minutes to play in the fourth quarter before going on a 12-0 run to regain control of the contest.

In San Antonio, Frenchman Tony Parker poured in a season best 27 points and Tim Duncan added 14 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Spurs past the Boston Celtics 107-90.

Boston staged a second quarter rally erasing a 14-point deficit to pull to within 57-56 but could not find a way to pull out an elusive win in San Antonio.

The Celtics have not celebrated a victory in San Antonio since February 14, 1990, a losing streak that has now reached 14 games.

In Minneapolis, Wally Szczerbiak had 23 points and Sam Cassell 22 as the Timberwolves crushed the Washington Wizards 109-74 to snap a two-game losing streak.

Kevin Garnett also made his usual major contribution adding 18 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and four blocked shots to the Minnesota cause.

In Denver, Dirk Nowitzki drained a game-high 36 points and Michael Finley added 20 points and eight rebounds to help the Dallas Mavericks to a 102-88 win over the Nuggets.

In New York, Tim Thomas had a season-high 20 points as the Knicks withstood a late rally from the expansion Charlotte Bobcatsto record a 91-82 win.

In Milwaukee, Michael Redd had a season-high 39 points and Joe Smith chipped in with 21, sparking the Bucks to 99-92 win over the Chicago Bulls and snapping a five game losing streak.

In Sacramento, Jason Richardson had 26 points as the Golden State Warriors upset the Kings 98-94.

Editor: Wing