ROTATION: Starters -- Point guard Aaron Brooks, Shooting guard Ron Artest, Small forward Shane Battier, Power forward Luis Scola, Center Yao Ming. Bench -- Guard Kyle Lowry, Guard Von Wafer, Forward Chuck Hayes, Guard Brent Barry, Center Dikembe Mutombo.
PLAYER NOTES: --C Yao Ming got off to a slow start, but made 8-of-13 shots after the first quarter, 9-of-18 overall, to score 20 points, adding 14 rebounds to play Shaquille O'Neal to a standstill. In all three games against the Suns this season, O'Neal has slightly outscored Yao while Yao has out-rebounded O'Neal.
--F Shane Battier continued his late-season hot shooting, making 5-of-9 shots, 4-of-7 from beyond the arc, to score 18 points. In his past six games, he has made 14 of 22 three-pointers.
--G Ron Artest led the Rockets with 28 points on 10-of-20 shooting, but he made just two of six shots in the fourth quarter, with one of those a banked-in three-pointer after the Rockets went through a six-minute scoreless stretch.
MEDICAL WATCH:
--F Carl Landry (gunshot surface wound, left calf) is out.
--G Tracy McGrady (microfracture surgery, left knee) is out.
--F Joey Dorsey (plantar fasciitis) is out.
