The decision will have to be made about whether to stick with it when Ron Artest is back, but Rockets coach Rick Adelman had considered the potential benefits of bringing Artest off the bench (a plan Artest repeatedly endorsed) before Battier was hurt for the entire preseason and first 15 games of the regular season.

For now, Adelman would be happy just to have a rotation he can stick with.

"You (need to) have a consistent starting lineup and bench," Yao Ming said. "Hopefully, I can stay in there and Rafer and a couple guys and make the team feel like a team."

--The Rockets expected the Warriors to change their defense. In their previous meeting a week before, the Rockets set or matched season bests for points (131), margin of victory (19), points in a first half (62), points in either half (69), assists (23), three-pointers (13), three-point shooting percentage (61.9), free throws (36) and free throws attempted (40).

Yao Ming had 19 points in the fourth quarter that night, and the Rockets knew that would lead to a change in the Warriors' defense. The Warriors shifted from double-teaming Yao, playing with a center behind him, to having Andris Biedrins front Yao with help coming from behind.

The Rockets adjusted, too. With power forwards often shading toward Yao to protect against lobs over the fronting defense, Rockets power forwards Luis Scola and Carl Landry combined for 37 points, making 14 of 22 shots.

"I think we attacked more aggressively on the weak side," Yao said. "Luis knocked down jump shots and also we had good penetration from the weak side. That really relieves some pressure because Biedrins, he worry about too me too much, so he cannot block shots. If we can continue to attack the rim like this, we can get a lot of easy lay-ups."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I thought he (Tracy McGrady) looked good. I was going to get him out earlier, but in some ways, if he can play through it, it's OK. Now tomorrow, we'll find out. I was hoping we'd open it up and keep the 20-point lead. I could keep him and everybody out. But we kept making it interesting." -- Coach Rick Adelman.