ROTATION: Starters -- Point guard Aaron Brooks, Shooting guard Tracy McGrady, Small forward Ron Artest, Power forward Luis Scola, Center Yao Ming. Bench -- Guard Brent Barry, Guard Aaron Brooks, Guard Luther Head, Forward Chuck Hayes, Forward Carl Landry, Forward Shane Battier.
PLAYER NOTES: --G Aaron Brooks was expected to miss as much as three weeks. He missed three days. A night after the Rockets got nothing offensively off the bench, he played 20 minutes, scoring 14 points with five assists, handling the entire fourth quarter in a match-up against Jason Kidd of Dallas.
--G Tracy McGrady struggled with his leg strength, but still did enough to draw fouls so he could score 16 points, adding seven assists. He sat out the entire fourth quarter, but could have returned to the game.
--C Yao Ming had a strong offensive game, scoring 30 points on 11-of-15 shooting with 13 rebounds and three assists.
--F Ron Artest helped take over down the stretch, scoring 10 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter and holding Josh Howard to just two after Howard had scored 26 in the first three quarters.
MEDICAL WATCH:
--G Aaron Brooks (bruised right ankle) was ruled out for one to three weeks but came back after missing three days.
--F Shane Battier (bruised right foot) has resumed workouts but still has no timetable to practice or play.
--G Steve Francis (knee surgery) has yet to go through a full practice while rehabilitating after last February's knee surgery.
