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Mobley steals spotlight from Yao Ming

Houston Rockets' Yao Ming, center, shoots over Jamaal Magloire of the New Orleans Hornets on Thursday at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. PHOTO: AFP

Cuttino Mobley scored 31 points and equaled a season high with six 3-pointers as the Houston Rockets beat the New Orleans Hornets 97-86 for their fourth straight victory Thursday night.

With the Rockets leading 23-21 early in the second quarter, Mobley scored 13 straight Rockets points as part of a 17-4 surge that put Houston in control.

"For a minute, everything felt good," Mobley said. "I don't pay attention to that [13 in a row]. When you're in a groove, you're in a groove."

Yao Ming had four points, a blocked shot and two fouls in the first five minutes of the game. He sat out the rest of the opening period and New Orleans outscored Houston 8-4 over the closing minutes for a 21-21 tie. Yao finished with 17 points and five fouls. "We had a 13-point [second] quarter and on the other end we never found an answer for Mobley and Steve Francis," New Orleans coach Tim Floyd said.

Kings 120, Mavericks 102

In Sacramento, California, Chris Webber had 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Sacramento in his first game against Dallas since hurting his knee against the Mavericks during last year's playoffs.

Peja Stojakovic scored 22 points, Doug Christie added 22 and 12 assists, and Mike Bibby had 21 points and 10 assists.
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