Rockets 97, Knicks 84
Reserve Chase Budinger scored 19 points to lead five players in double figures and the Houston Rockets continued their domination of the visiting New York Knicks with a 97-84 victory on Saturday night.
Goran Dragic also came off the bench to add 16 points as the Rockets beat New York for the seventh consecutive time at home and the 13th time in the last 14 meetings overall.
Yet another reserve, Jordan Hill, registered his second double-double in as many nights with 14 points and 11 rebounds to help Houston improve to 9-1 in its last 10 games.
Amar'e Stoudemire scored 23 points for the Knicks, who played without leading scorer Carmelo Anthony for the second straight contest and lost for the ninth time in 10 games.
The Rockets broke the game open with an 11-0 run in the waning minutes of the third quarter, getting back-to-back baskets from Samuel Dalembert and a 3-pointer from Courtney Lee to extend the lead to 75-58.
Dalembert finished with 14 rebounds, four blocked shots and seven points.
One night after hoisting up 43 3-point attempts - a league high this season - in a loss at Miami, New York connected on only 5 of 26 from behind to arc to absorb its third straight defeat.