Los Angeles - Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming took the Houston Rockets to a place they'd never been before. McGrady poured in 34 points, Yao had 28 with 14 rebounds and the Rockets routed the Western Conference-leading New Orleans Hornets 100-80 on Friday night for a franchise-record 10th consecutive road victory.
By eclipsing the previous road mark set during the 1993-94 NBA Championship season, the Rockets (35-20) also stretched their overall winning streak to 11 games.
"New Orleans is a very good team and this gives us confidence," Yao said. "It means a lot for us to beat them, keep our winning streak and also the 10-game winning streak on the road."
The Rockets made it look easy in the "Big Easy" from beginning to end.
"We understood this was a team that was ahead of us in the standings," McGrady said. "They knew we were on a 10-game winning streak, so we wanted to come out and give it our all."
Houston led by five after the opening period and broke open the game, outscoring the Hornets 22-11 in the second period en route to a 51-35 halftime cushion. The Rockets kept a double digit lead throughout the second half, snapping the Hornets' five-game winning streak.
"We talked about making a statement," said Rockets coach Rick Adelman, whose club improved to 19-3 since January 3. "We feel we are playing as well as anybody in the league right now and we want to show that we can continue to do that by playing the best teams and getting the win."
David West had 20 points with 10 rebounds to pace the Hornets (37-16) while fellow all-star Chris Paul struggled to finish with 14 points and 11 assists.
Elsewhere: Phoenix Suns 85, Boston Celtics 77 Amare Stoudemire scored 28 points, Shaquille O'Neal grabbed 14 rebounds in his second game since being traded, and the host Suns sent the slumping Celtics to their season-high third straight loss.
Kevin Garnett had 19 points for league-best Boston (41-12) which never led, shot just 39 per cent from the floor and was out-rebounded 50-32.
LA Clippers 114, Utah Jazz 104 Corey Maggette scored 27 points and Al Thornton had 14 of his 27 in the final quarter, helping the Clippers stun the visiting Jazz.
Deron Williams had 26 points with 10 assists for Northwest Division-leading Utah (35-20) which had won nine of its previous 10 games.
Cleveland Cavaliers 90, Washington Wizards 89 LeBron James made two free throws with 7.8 seconds left to cap a 33-point, 15-rebound, eight-assist effort, and the Cavaliers handed the visiting Wizards their 10th loss in the last 11 games.
Sacramento Kings 116, Charlotte Bobcats 115 (OT) Francisco Garcia scored 23 points, Brad Miller had 22 with 14 rebounds and the visiting Kings edged the Bobcats, who lost Gerald Wallace to a concussion.
The Bobcats forward was wheeled off the floor on a stretcher and taken to a local hospital after being knocked unconscious by an errant elbow from Kings forward Mikki Moore in the third quarter. Tests revealed Wallace suffered a concussion and he was released.
Jason Richardson led Charlotte with 29 points.
Detroit Pistons 127, Milwaukee Bucks 100 Chauncey Billups had 21 points with 12 assists and the Pistons routed the Bucks to avenge a loss at Milwaukee on Wednesday night.
Orlando Magic 115, Philadelphia 76ers 99 Hedo Turkoglu scored a season-high 31 points, Dwight Howard had 24 with 18 rebounds and the Magic sent the visiting Sixers just their second loss in the last eight games.
Andre Miller and Andre Iguodala led the Sixers (24-32) with 25 points apiece.
Dallas Mavericks 98, Memphis Grizzlies 83 Dirk Nowitzki scored 27 points, Jason Kidd handed out 15 assists in his second game following a trade, sending the Mavericks to the easy road win.
Indiana Pacers 113, New Jersey Nets 103 Mike Dunleavy scored 34 points, Travis Diener matched a career-high with 19, helping the Pacers snap a three-game skid.
Richard Jefferson led the visiting Nets (24-31) with 34 points.
Chicago Bulls 135, Denver Nuggets 121 Ben Gordon scored 37 points and the host Bulls ran to their highest scoring effort since the 1991 season despite 43 points by J.R. Smith.
New York Knicks 103, Toronto Raptors 99 Jamal Crawford scored a season-high 43 points, Nate Robinson made four key free throws in the final 3.5 seconds and the Knicks trimmed the visiting Raptors.
Zach Randolph added 26 points and 15 rebounds for New York (17- 38), which rebounded from a 40-point blowout to Philadelphia on Wednesday night.
Chris Bosh topped Toronto (29-24) with 23 points.
Atlanta Hawks 117, Golden State Warriors 110 Joe Johnson scored 27 points and the visiting Hawks snapped six- game losing streak.
Baron Davis had 35 points for the Warriors (33-22) who without starters Stephen Jackson (ankle) and Andris Biedrins (appendectomy) had their four-game winning streak halted.
Seattle SuperSonics 99, Portland Trail Blazers 87 Kevin Durant scored 17 points and the Sonics never trailed to salvage a split of their home-and-away series with the visiting Blazers.
