McGrady scores 28 as Houston wins at Arco

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Starting a long road trip at an arena

where they have experienced very little success did not bother the

Houston Rockets.

Tracy McGrady scored 28 points, and the Rockets used a

dominating fourth quarter Thursday night to beat Sacramento 106-95

and extend the Kings' losing streak to five.

Houston, which opened a six-game, 11-day trip, had lost nine of

its previous 10 games at Arco Arena, where the Kings are an

uncharacteristic 6-7 this season.

"This is still a tough place to play, that hasn't changed,"

Houston guard Derek Anderson said. "The Kings are struggling now,

but so are we. Hopefully this starts a growing spurt for us. We

need to start winning some games."

Yao Ming had 21 points and nine rebounds for Houston, which has

won three of four games since McGrady returned to the lineup

following a back injury. Anderson added 16 points, and David Wesley

had 12.

Rookie guard Luther Head scored nine points and was a key factor

in the fourth quarter for Houston.

The Rockets scored 17 straight points in an 8-minute stretch in

the fourth quarter. Head made two 3-pointers during the run, and

Anderson's two free throws made it 92-83 with 4:31 remaining.

"That gives me confidence to know I can make big shots," Head

said. "We brought it defensively in the fourth quarter, that's

what won it for us. This is definitely a great way to start the

road trip."

Mike Bibby had 24 points and six assists for the Kings, who have

lost four straight games at home for the first time since late in

the 1997-98 season. Brad Miller and Bonzi Wells each scored 21

points, and Peja Stojakovic added 15.

"Our fans are disgusted, I'm disgusted," Wells said. "We're

playing terrible."

The Kings, who held a 14-point lead midway through the third

period, suddenly went cold, scoring six points during a 10-minute

stretch that extended into the fourth quarter when the Rockets took

control of the game.

"They were making shots for three quarters," Wesley said. "So

with them playing so well and for us to be in only trailing by six

points they had to be worried."

Scoring on a variety of shots inside, Wells had nine points in a

13-3 run that helped Sacramento take a 79-73 lead into the fourth

quarter.

Miller scored 12 points, and Stojakovic and Wells each had 10 as

the Kings used strong outside shooting in taking a 52-47 halftime

lead.

"We played so well for three quarters and in the fourth quarter

we just disintegrated," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "You're

not going to win in this league when you make the decisions we made

and turn the ball over. All that stuff happened in the first seven

minutes of the fourth quarter."Game notes
During a delay in the first quarter due to a malfunction in

the 24-second clock, McGrady took a courtside seat next to Kings

owner Gavin Maloof. ... Former Kings player Jon Barry, who scored

24 points in Houston's season-opening win against Sacramento, has a

strained right calf and did not make the trip. ... The Sacramento

bench had a season-low six points, while the Houston reserves had

37.