NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Houston Rockets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 91-83 on Saturday in a game featuring the second NBA matchup between Chinese players Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian.

With Milwaukee's arena decorated for an early Chinese New Year, neither Chinese player stood out in a game that was expected to be watched by a huge television audience in China.

Their first NBA meeting last November drew between an estimated 100 and 200 million viewers, while Saturday's was televised live by three Chinese networks, and delayed on a fourth.

On Saturday, Yao, hindered by first-half foul trouble and a slight ankle injury, scored just 12 points and made 12 rebounds.

Yi scored six points, under his season average of 9.7 points per game. He was 1-for-10 from the field.

"I thought maybe eight of his shots were pretty good shots, they just didn't go in," Milwaukee coach Larry Krystkowiak told reporters. "I'm sure he's not happy with his performance, but I wouldn't say he's pressing.

"It's a situation where we're in a rookie season. There are going to be some ups and downs and it's something he can grow from."

While attention was on the Chinese duo, Houston's Tracy McGrady scored 33 points and made 11 rebounds and six assists to lead his side to their third successive win.

"It was a tough game," said Houston coach Rick Adelman. "We played really well in the fourth quarter and Tracy really turned it on."

Australia's Andrew Bogut scored 21 points for Milwaukee.

* LeBron James returned after missing one game with a sprained ankle and scored 28 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 98-84 home win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

* The Atlanta Hawks ended a three-game losing streak with a 104-92 home triumph over the New Jersey Nets as Marvin Williams scored 24 points and Josh Childress and Josh Smith both had 23.

* Carmelo Anthony returned after missing five games with a sprained ankle to score 25 points while Allen Iverson had 24 points and 13 assists to help the Denver Nuggets to a 117-101 home win over the Charlotte Bobcats.

Jason Richardson scored 38 points for Charlotte.

* The Seattle SuperSonics won their third straight game as rookie Kevin Durant scored 21 points and made a three-pointer in the final minute to record an 86-85 win over the New York Knicks.

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