BEIJING, Dec. 7 -- The game in hand, Tracy McGrady used the third quarter against Golden State on Tuesday night to polish his repertoire.

    McGrady scored 13 of his 31 points in the quarter as the Houston Rockets routed the Warriors 118-90 at home.

    "I was trying to do some explosive things that I haven't been doing all year," said McGrady, who hit 13 of 25 shots and dished out seven assists. "This was a great opportunity to go out and try that because we had a comfortable lead. I'm just trying to take it to another level now."

    McGrady showed no effects from the concussion he suffered after taking an elbow from teammate Dikembe Mutombo in last Saturday's win over Cleveland. In a 30-second sequence in the third quarter, McGrady picked off a steal, drove for a breakaway layup, then hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

    "I surprised myself tonight with some of the things I did," he said.

    Yao Ming added 27 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Rockets, who've won six of their last seven games and six in a row at the Toyota Center.

    Elsewhere in the National Basketball Association, it was: Mavericks 92, Nets 75; Trail Blazers 88, Pistons 85; Suns 127, Kings 102; Super Sonics 102, Hawks 87; and Clippers 101, Heat 97.

    In Houston, Chuck Hayes grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds and Juwan Howard added 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets, who shot 54 percent (45-of-84) against the NBA's worst defense.

    Yao manhandled Golden State's big men, making 12 of 17 shots, most of them dunks and layups.

    "This is my job, man," Yao said. "They put single coverage on me. So all I had to do was catch the ball and go."

    Houston was the fourth straight opponent to reach at least 108 points against Golden State. The Warriors came in allowing an NBA-worst 106 points per game.

    Monta Ellis scored 19 and Baron Davis added 18 points for the Warriors, who've lost four in a row since coach Don Nelson earned his 1,199th career victory. Nelson is trying to join Lenny Wilkens as the only coaches to reach the 1,200-win plateau.

    Nelson was in no mood to talk about the elusive milestone after the game.

    "We didn't play well offensively or pass or move the ball or execute our game plan," he said. "We proved we are not ready to play the best teams in the NBA."

    The Rockets led by 15 after the first quarter, by 21 at the break and 93-68 heading to the fourth quarter. Yao and McGrady sat out nearly all of the final quarter.

    The Warriors, the league's best shooting team, shot 39 percent (32-of-82) against Houston's league-leading scoring defense.

    "We just don't have it," Davis said. "We haven't been playing with any passion. We have to be a hard-nosed team and that is not happening. We're not a team right now and that has to change."

    (Resource: Shanghai Daily/Agencies)