Houston 104, New York 89

Kevin Martin scored 21 points to lead six players in double figures and the host Houston Rockets cruised past the suddenly slumping New York Knicks, 104-89, on Wednesday night.

Kyle Lowry added 18 points for Houston (20-23), which took a lead in the opening minutes and never trailed on the way to its third straight victory. New York has lost four straight games.

The Rockets led, 36-27, after the first quarter. The Knicks (22-19) stayed within striking most of the game until Martin buried a 3-pointer with 5:30 to play to extend the lead to 96-83. New York got no closer
thereafter.

Amar’e Stoudemire scored 25 points for the Knicks, who have lost six of their last eight road games and visit league-leading San Antonio on Friday and Northwest Division-leading Oklahoma City the following night. The two teams are a combined 37-8 at home this season.

Luis Scola and Chase Budinger each had 13 points and eight rebounds for Houston. Raymond Felton scored 14 points for New York.

• Houston will play their next game on the road against Memphis. The Rockets have a W/L % of .474 after a win and .458 after a loss.
• New York will play their next game on the road against San Antonio . The Knicks have a W/L % of .682 after a win and .368 after a loss.