Luis Scola

Luis Scola scored 20 points, Terrence Williams had 14 and the Houston Rockets beat the short-handed San Antonio Spurs 101-87 on Saturday night. Jordan Hill had 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Rockets, who had a 56-38 edge on the boards. Williams also had nine rebounds. Manu Ginobili and DeJuan Blair scored 16 points apiece for the Spurs. Tim Duncan and Tony Parker sat out for San Antonio. Houston led 51-36 at halftime after the Spurs went 8 for 40 from the field in the half.

Chase Budinger scored a season-high 27 points and Marcus Morris hit the go-ahead 3-pointer to lift the Houston Rockets to an 84-77 victory over the New Orleans Hornets on Thursday night in the season finale for both teams. The Hornets end the season in last place in the Southwest Division but finished strong, winning eight of their last 13 games. Houston finished one spot above New Orleans in the standings with a 34-32 record after a late-season collapse that cost the team a playoff spot.

Chris Paul had 28 points and 10 assists, Blake Griffin added 14 points and 11 rebounds and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Houston Rockets 105-103 in overtime Sunday night. Randy Foye had 15 points and Caron Butler and Mo Williams had 14 apiece for the Clippers, who beat Houston for only the eighth time in the last 33 meetings. Kevin Martin scored 25 points, and Samuel Dalembert and Luis Scola each grabbed 12 rebounds for the Rockets, who've lost three in a row after winning their previous four.

LeBron James had 32 points and eight rebounds, Norris Cole added 16 points and the Miami Heat pulled away in the final minutes to beat Houston 97-88 on Sunday night and eliminate the Rockets from postseason contention. Mike Miller scored 11 for injury-depleted Miami, which still has a mathematical chance of catching Chicago for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Joel Anthony added 11 for the Heat on 5-for-5 shooting. Chandler Parsons scored a career-high 23 for Houston, which led by as many as 13 in the first half.

Luis Scola scored 23 points, Goran Dragic had 14 points and 10 assists and the Houston Rockets routed the NBA-worst Charlotte Bobcats 107-87 on Wednesday night. Samuel Dalembert added 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Jordan Hill scored 14 and grabbed eight rebounds for the Rockets, who've won two in a row after dropping six of their previous seven games. Derrick Brown scored 15 to lead the Bobcats, who've lost 20 of 23 road games this season. Houston followed up an unlikely win in Oklahoma City on Tuesday night with one of its most efficient offensive performances.

Jason Terry scored seven consecutive points in a minute to start a game-turning run for the Dallas Mavericks, who went on to a 90-81 victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night. Dirk Nowitzki had 21 points despite a bad shooting night (5 of 17) for the Mavericks, who have won consecutive games against Houston. Rodrigue Beaubois had 14 points and Brandan Wright 13. The Mavericks won 101-99 in overtime on Saturday night in Houston, which played at home again Monday and needed overtime to beat Sacramento.

Final: Celtics 97, Rockets 92, OT Paul Pierce scored 30 points on 9-for-21 shooting, including seven points in overtime, to lead the Celtics to a 97-92 victory over the Rockets, extending Boston's winning streak to five consecutive games. Pierce had 21 points in regulation on 7-for-18 shooting, but had nine in OT including the last four in a row for the Celtics, who improved to 20-17. Luis Scola led the Rockets (21-18) with 18 points and 14 rebounds. Overtime Celtics 91, Rockets 86, 3:01: A reverse up-and-under by Ray Allen, a...

HOUSTON - The Houston Rockets came up with one more stunning victory to set up a final showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers. Aaron Brooks scored 26 points, Luis Scola added 24 points and 12 rebounds, and the scrappy, undermanned Rockets pushed the top-seeded Lakers to the brink in their Western Conference semifinal series with a 95-80 win in Game 6 last night. Reserve Carl Landry scored 15 as the Rockets built another huge lead in the first half, then fought off a Lakers rally to force Game 7 Sunday at the Staples Center.

Kobe Bryant scored 33 points, Pau Gasol added 27 points and 19 rebounds, and the Lakers welcomed back center Andrew Bynum in a 116-102 win over the Denver Nuggets last night in Los Angeles. The win was the 63d for the Lakers, matching the idle Cleveland Cavaliers for the league lead. Bynum, playing in his first game since tearing the medial collateral ligament in his right knee on Jan. 31, had 16 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes. Wearing a black brace on his knee, Bynum was greeted with cheers when his name was announced in the starting lineup.

HOUSTON - With Yao Ming out, the Houston Rockets had no chance to beat the Los Angeles Lakers. Right? Wrong. Aaron Brooks scored a career-high 34 points, Shane Battier sank five 3-pointers en route to 23, and the Rockets beat the Lakers, 99-87, yesterday to even their Western Conference semifinal at two games apiece. "I think everyone but us got the memo that we weren't supposed to show up today without Yao," Battier said. Luis Scola had 11 points and 14 rebounds as the Rockets got exactly the team effort they needed after Yao was ruled out for the playoffs because of a broken...

Courtney Lee scored 20 points, Goran Dragic added 18 points and seven assists and the Houston Rockets snapped a six-game losing streak with a 99-96 win over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night. Luis Scola had 13 points and Chase Budinger added 11 for the Rockets, who came into the game in the 10th spot in the Western Conference, one game behind Utah and Phoenix. Houston went 10 for 26 from 3-point range to snap a four-game home losing streak and beat the Warriors for the 14th time in the last 16 meetings.

Eric Gordon scored 27 points, Carl Landry had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Hornets dealt a blow to Houston's playoff hopes with a 105-99 overtime victory Thursday night, the Rockets' sixth straight loss. Goran Dragic scored 23 points and Chase Budinger tied a season-high with 22 points for Houston (32-31), which dropped one game behind Utah (33-30) for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with three games left. Al-Farouq Aminu scored 17 points, Marco Belinelli had 13 points, and Gustavo Ayon had nine points and 10...

Dirk Nowitzki scored 21 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter as the Dallas Mavericks rallied Wednesday night for a 117-110 victory over the Houston Rockets, whose playoff hopes took another blow. Jason Terry put the Mavericks ahead to stay with a 3-pointer that made it 93-92 with 7:37 left. By the time Nowitzki completed a three-point play 3 ½ minutes later, the Mavericks led 102-94. That wrapped up a 20-6 run their 11-time All-Star forward started with consecutive 3-pointers.

Arron Afflalo scored 26 points, Ty Lawson had 25 and the Denver Nuggets continued their playoff push with a 105-102 victory over the fading Houston Rockets on Monday night. Al Harrington added 15 points and Andre Miller had 13 assists for the Nuggets, who swept back-to-back games with the Rockets, the team directly behind them in the Western Conference standings. Denver began the night holding the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference, one game ahead of the Rockets. Houston was only one game ahead of Phoenix and 1 ½ games ahead of Utah, who...

Courtney Lee scored 19 of his 25 points in the first half, leading the Houston Rockets to a 104-87 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Sunday night. Goran Dragic had 15 points and nine assists, Chase Budinger also scored 15 and Luis Scola added 13 points and eight rebounds as Houston won its third straight and fourth of the last five. Patrick Patterson had 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Rockets, sixth in the Western Conference, moved one-half game ahead of defending champion Dallas.

Goran Dragic scored 21 points, Luis Scola added 18 points and 12 rebounds, and the Houston Rockets rallied to beat Chicago 99-93 Monday night, giving the Bulls back-to-back losses for the first time this season. The Bulls had gone a franchise-record 86 regular-season games without dropping two in a row, second only to Utah's 95-game run in the late 1990s. But after getting mauled by Oklahoma City, they fell again for the second time in as many days, dropping a wild game that saw several major swings in momentum.

Kevin Martin scored 25 points, Samuel Dalembert added 20 and the Houston Rockets broke away in the third quarter Monday to beat John Wall and the Washington Wizards 114-106. Wall scored a career-high 38 points on 13 of 22 shooting. He began the game making under 35 percent this season. Luis Scola had 18 and Kyle Lowry had 16 for the Rockets in their highest-scoring game of the season. Houston outscored the Wizards 25-6 during an eight-minute stretch in the third quarter.

Kevin Love scored 25 points and grabbed 18 rebounds and Luke Ridnour added 22 points to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves over the Houston Rockets 100-91 on Saturday night. Minnesota won for the fifth time in seven games to reach .500 (12-12). Kyle Lowry had 24 points and 11 assists for Houston and Luis Scola also had 24 points, but Kevin Martin scored a season-low two points on 1-for-10 shooting. It was only the second time this season Martin, who entered the game averaging 20.7 points, didn't score in double figures.

Jason Terry scored seven consecutive points in a minute to start a game-turning run for the Dallas Mavericks, who went on to a 90-81 victory over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday night. Dirk Nowitzki had 21 points despite a bad shooting night (5 of 17) for the Mavericks, who have won consecutive games against Houston. Rodrigue Beaubois had 14 points and Brandan Wright 13. The Mavericks won 101-99 in overtime on Saturday night in Houston, which played at home again Monday and needed overtime to beat Sacramento.

Patrick Patterson scored a career-high 24 points and Earl Boykins hit four free throws for Houston late in overtime to lead the Rockets to a 113-106 win over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night. Boykins, who was signed by Houston earlier in the day, finished with 10 points in his first action of the season. Houston built a 107-102 lead in overtime behind four points from Chandler Parsons. Tyreke Evans got Sacramento within three with a layup with 29 seconds left. Boykins hit two free throws with 21 seconds left and two more 7 seconds later...