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McGrady leads Rockets past Spurs

Jan 25, 2007 - 6:37 AM SAN ANTONIO (Ticker) -- Tracy McGrady made sure that this time he was a part of a rare road win at San Antonio.

McGrady scored 37 points and grabbed eight rebounds as the Houston Rockets posted a 90-85 victory over the Spurs.

Rafer Alston had 19 points and seven assists and Juwan Howard added 11 and seven boards for Houston, which has won two straight here after a 17-game road losing streak to San Antonio.

"The win is important to us because we haven't won consecutive games here in a long time," McGrady said.

The Rockets beat the Spurs at AT&T Center on December 22, ending a losing streak that stretched back to April 20 1997. McGrady did not play in that game, one of seven games he missed from December 12-23, because of back spasms.

"I don't look at the win as part of us turning it around vs. San Antonio," Van Gundy said. "I wasn't here for some of those 17 losses. I just worry about this victory."

McGrady was 14-of-24 from the field as the Rockets shot 50 percent (36-of-72) and snapped a three-game losing streak.

"I had to step up because that's my role," McGrady said. "That's what I do. When the game is on the line, the best players have to make big plays."

"He came up big against a defensive team and a tough defensive player," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "It's hard to do it against the Spurs and hard to do it against Bruce Bowen."

Dikembe Mutombo, who was praised for his efforts on the international aid front by President Bush during the State of the Union Address on Wednesday, grabbed eight rebounds and had one of Houston's seven blocks.

"It was a great honor to be at the U.S. Capital and to be recognized by the President of the United States of America," Mutombo said. "I've been getting phone calls all day from people from Africa and Europe. It's going to put the hospital that we are building at another level. It's just a blessing."

Tim Duncan scored 37 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Spurs, who have lost eight games at home this season, one more than all of last season.

"The home losses are an awful way to start the first half of the season," Duncan said. "Usually, we're a very solid home team."

Manu Ginobili had 15 points and Tony Parker added 10 for San Antonio, which shot 42 percent (37-of-88), including 2-of-16 from the arc.