teve Novak hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left to give the Houston Rockets their eighth straight win, an 89-87 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.
Ron Artest had rallied the Kings back from an 18-point fourth quarter deficit and his off-balance jump shot gave them a 87-86 lead with 24 seconds left.
With Artest all over him, Tracy McGrady drove into the lane and then kicked the ball out to Novak for the winning shot and his only points of the game.
Houston enters the All-Star break having won 17 of its last 20 games, marking the most successful 20-game span for the team since the 1996-97 season.
Artest led the Kings with 30 points, including 15 in the fourth quarter.
Yao Ming led the Rockets with 25 points and 14 rebounds and Rafer Alston scored a season-high 23 points.
Sacramento trailed by 18 points at the end of the third quarter, but used a 15-1 run capped by a 3-pointer by Brad Miller to get within 80-76 midway through the fourth quarter. Yao scored five points for Houston over the next two minutes but Artest cut Houston's lead to 86-83 with about two minutes left.
Artest missed two free throws before hitting a long jumper to get the Kings within one with 58 seconds left.
His jump shot in the lane after a steal by Justin Williams gave them an 87-86 lead with 24 seconds left, their first since leading 8-7.
McGrady had scored 40 points in each of the last two meetings with the Kings, but was 3-of-12 for just 10 points on Wednesday.
Sacramento, which has lost three straight, got 14 points from Mike Bibby and 13 from Miller.
Houston led by as many as 19 in the second quarter, but poor shooting in the back end of that quarter allowed the Kings to cut the lead to 13 at halftime. Sacramento opened the second half with a 10-4 run to cut Houston's lead to single digits for the first time since late in the first quarter.
The Rockets led 52-39 at half.
They wouldn't get any closer in the third though as Shane Battier's 3-pointer stretched Houston's lead back to 59-49. A trio of turnovers and several missed shots kept the Kings' offense sluggish after that in the third and two consecutive 3s by Alston gave Houston a 75-56 lead late in the quarter.
The Rockets didn't score for an almost 2 1/2 minute span in the second quarter but maintained a comfortable lead since Sacramento managed just four points in that span. Houston's scoring drought was broken when Miller got a technical foul for complaining about the officiating and Yao made one of two free throws that pushed the lead to 50-33 less than four minutes before halftime.
The Rockets led 35-20 at the end of the first quarter, the most points they've scored in a quarter his season.
Notes: Yao had three blocks on Wednesday to bring his career total to 759, moving him past Moses Malone for second most in team history. Hakeem Olajuwon is the team leader with 3,740 in his career.
02/13/2008 11:23 PM
By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Writer
HOUSTON
Sacramento Kings' Kevin Martin, left, works the defense of Houston Rockets Yao Ming, right, and Shane Battier, center, during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008 in Houston.
(AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
teve Novak hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left to give the Houston Rockets their eighth straight win, an 89-87 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night.
