With Yao Ming in attendance, the Rockets delivered a balanced performance, then survived a late collapse to beat the Orlando Magic 101-96 in the Compaq Center.
The Rockets improved to 4-1 on the preseason.
Steve Francis had 16 points, 9 assists and 6 boards while Juaquin Hawkins and Maurice Taylor each added 13. Cuttino Mobley and Glen Rice each added 11 as did Kenny Thomas, who also snared 7 boards.
The Rockets led 93-85 with 4:24 to go, but slipped big time, giving up 9 straight points over the next two minutes. Tierre Brown found Hawkins to give the Rockets a 95-94 edge, but with 23 seconds left, Ryan Humphrey threw down a slam to make it 96-95 Orlando.
But Tierre Brown scissored through the lane for a deuce, and Orlando called timeout with 15.7 seconds remaining. Mo Taylor then took a charge from Darrell Armstrong, and Hawkins made a pair of free throws.
Orlando came down to hit a three to tie the game, but Tierre Brown won the game with a huge steal.
The Rockets shot over 55% in the first half and held Orlando to under 43% shooting, but at halftime, the Rockets led just 54-48.
Believe it or not, Hawkins led the team at half with 9 points. Francis had 8 points, 6 assists and 4 boards in just 16 minutes, Rice added 8 and Taylor had 7, 2 of which came on a windmill slam.
Mike Miller and Pat Garrity led the Magic with 9 points each while Tracy McGrady had 7.
But the team started to pull away in the third. After Mobley hit a foot-on-the-line jumper, the Rockets led 66-57. Griffin hit a triple and Mobley made a slashing drive and the Rockets led 71-59.
