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Yao, red-hot Rockets face divisional foe Hornets

Jan 13, 2008 - 2:06 PM New Orleans (24-12) at Houston (20-17) 2:30 pm EST

HOUSTON (Ticker) -- The Houston Rockets aim for their sixth straight win when they host the New Orleans Hornets in a Southwest Division battle Sunday.

When superstar Tracy McGrady went down with a knee injury on December 23, Houston fell to 13-15 and had won just seven of its previous 21 games. But in nine games without the superstar swingman, the Rockets have gone 7-2.

Yao Ming has picked up the slack on the offensive end, averaging 23.3 points over the last nine contests. He totaled 66 points and 19 rebounds in two wins over the New York Knicks last week.

Houston barely needed Yao in a 113-82 domination of the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. The 7-6 center played just 28 minutes, scoring 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

Sunday's opponent will be significantly tougher than the likes of the Knicks and the Timberwolves, as the Hornets have won nine of 11 and are just one game shy of the best record in the Western Conference.

Chris Paul leads the New Orleans attack on both the offensive and defensive end, averaging 21.7 points and 10.7 assists to go along with an NBA-best 2.9 steals per contest. With David West, Tyson Chandler and a healthy Peja Stojakovic around him, Paul has no trouble finding finishers on the fastbreak.

This will be the first of four matchups this season between the Rockets and New Orleans, which won three of the four meetings last season.