Tracy McGrady and the Houston Rockets are making it look easy, even against the best teams in the Western Conference.

McGrady scored 41 points Saturday night and the Rockets stretched their winning streak to 18 games with a 106-96 victory over the New Orleans Hornets.

The Rockets have won their last nine games by double digits and moved into a tie with the Hornets in the overall conference standings. Houston, 13-15 in mid-December, closed within one game of San Antonio in the Southwest Division.

The Rockets have the NBA’s longest winning streak since the Los Angeles Lakers won 19 in a row in the 1999-2000 season. Houston became just the seventh team in history to win 18 or more consecutive games.

McGrady hit 17 of 27 shots, reaching 40 points for the fourth time this season. The Rockets also made a season-high 14 3-pointers, improving to 6-0 since Yao Ming went out with a foot injury.

Chris Paul scored 37 points for the Hornets, who had won five of their last six. Paul also had 11 assists.

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Rafer Alston added 20 points for Houston, which has won 12 consecutive games at the Toyota Center, the franchise’s longest home-court streak since 1993-94, the Rockets’ first championship season.

Both teams were short-handed on the front line.

David West, the Hornets’ second-leading scorer and rebounder, missed his third straight game with a sprained left ankle. Rookie Carl Landry, a key reserve during the winning streak, sat out with a bruised left knee.

The Rockets trailed 23-20 after the first quarter, then took command with a 14-0 run midway through the second.

McGrady sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key early in the spurt, then soared for a two-handed, alley-oop dunk off a long feed from Alston. McGrady hit another 3-pointer from the corner to put Houston up 40-28, then nodded and screamed at the cheering fans before running back down the court.

The rest of the half turned into an entertaining 3-point shootout—11 of the last 12 field goals came from long range.

Peja Stojakovic and Paul ended Houston’s run with back-to-back 3s, but Steve Novak answered with a 3 from the corner. Morris Peterson sank a pair of 3s before Shane Battier and Alston each hit one in the final minute to give the Rockets a 59-46 lead at the break.

The teams hit 16 3-pointers in the second quarter and 18 in the first half.

The Hornets closed to 63-57 early in the third quarter, but Alston sank Houston’s 10th 3-pointer to finish a 9-3 burst and put the Rockets back up by 12. Tyson Chandler got the ball inside at the other end, Dikembe Mutombo swatted it away—career block No. 3,246—and followed it with a trademark wag of his finger.

Paul had 11 points and four assists in the third quarter to keep New Orleans close. But McGrady’s jumper over Peterson in the final minute of the quarter gave the Rockets an 81-72 lead and gave him at least 30 points for the 11th time this season.

McGrady started the final quarter with consecutive jumpers over the 6-foot-1 Jannero Pargo and 6-8 rookie Julian Wright. Luther Head and Battier tacked on 3-pointers to stretch Houston’s lead to 91-74.

Paul converted a three-point play and sank a 3 to cut Houston’s lead to nine, at 95-86. Alston responded with a 3 from the corner to extend the lead back to double digits.

The Rockets have won 27 of their last 30 games, the best record in the NBA since the start of 2008.

Notes

The Hornets and Rockets were meeting for the first time since the Feb. 21 trade that brought Bobby Jackson to Houston for Mike James and Bonzi Wells. Jackson scored two points with five assists, James had three points and Wells sat out with an injured Achilles’ tendon. … The Rockets have had at least 20 assists in every game during their winning streak. … The Rockets have made 10 or more 3-pointers in five of their last seven games. … Paul reached 30 points for the ninth time this season.

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