It’s true that the Houston Rockets are a different yet successful team without Tracy McGrady in their lineup, but at the same time, they’ll need him for the push for the playoffs as soon as possible right after the All-Star break.  Fortunately for the Rockets, their opponent on Wednesday was the Sacramento Kings; stout defense plus clutch scoring by Yao Ming and Luis Scola proved to make the difference as Houston rumbled to the 94-82 win over Sacramento at the Toyota Center.

The Kings started well enough as they hit 11 of their first 18 shots to build an early lead in the first quarter, with help from Jason Thompson as he scored 10 points in the period.  The Rockets struggled to hang with the Kings as they trailed going into the second quarter 25-22.  Both teams struggled and combined for 11 turnovers in the first 6 1/2 minutes of the second period; Kevin Martin would steal a pass and score a layup, giving Sacramento a 34-30 lead with 5:13 left in the first half.

Houston would end the half with a 9-1 run as Sacramento missed their last 6 shots; the Rockets would go into halftime with a narrow 39-35 lead.  They would start the third quarter with a 21-8 explosion and would slowly pull away for the win.  Houston’s high scorer was Ming with 24 points, 18 rebounds, an assist, a steal and a blocked shot while Ron Artest and Scola added 19 apiece – with Artest draining 3 treys along with 3 rebounds, 4 assists, a steal but committing 5 turnovers while Scola grabbed 11 boards, dished out 2 assists along with a steal.

Sacramento was led by Martin with 18 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal while Bobby Jackson, from off the bench, added 15 with a rebound, 2 assists and 2 steals; Thompson poured in 14 with 4 rebounds.  Houston (32-21) and Sacramento (11-43) now go into the All-Star break, with the Rockets not playing again until Tuesday, February 17 when they host the New Jersey Nets while the Kings return home to host the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday, February 18.