Yao Ming scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Ron Artest scored 20 and the Houston Rockets finished off a perfect three-game road trip against the Eastern Conference with an 107-98 win over the Miami Heat on Monday. Rafer Alston added 14 points for Houston, which finished with six players in double figures and outrebounded Miami 51-35. Dwyane Wade scored 23 points for Miami, doing so on 7-for-23 shooting. Mario Chalmers added a career-best 23, including five 3-pointers, for the Heat, who also got 17 points from Shawn Marion and 14 from Michael Beasley. The Rockets finished their Eastern Conference road swing 3-0, marking only the fourth time in the last 12 years that they were perfect on a trip lasting at least three games. Magic 108, Bucks 101: At Orlando, Florida, Dwight Howard had 24 points and 13 rebounds to help Orlando beat Milwaukee. Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis each added 22 points for the Magic. Richard Jefferson scored 25 points to lead Milwaukee, which lost Andrew Bogut to a left knee bruise in the third quarter. The Magic saw point guard Jameer Nelson leave with a groin strain. Bobcats 93, 76ers 84: At Charlotte, North Carolina, D.J. Augustin scored 25 points and added a career-high 11 assists, backcourt mate Raymond Felton added 23 points, and Charlotte used its new speedy and tiny lineup to beat Philadelphia. The 6-foot Augustin and the 6-1 Felton had their best game together since coach Larry Brown inserted the rookie Augustin in the starting lineup three games ago. They helped the Bobcats snap a four-game losing streak despite another meek performance from Charlotte's front line that somehow the 76ers couldn't take advantage of. Elton Brand had 18 points and Andre Iguodala added 17 points for the Sixers. Trail Blazers 91, Kings 90: At Portland, Brandon Roy scored a season-high 28 points and Portland rallied during the final six minutes to beat Sacramento. Joel Przybilla added 10 points and 12 rebounds, while Steve Blake had 12 points for the Blazers. Greg Oden made his first start for Portland since returning from a foot injury on Nov. 12. Oden, the first pick of the 2007 NBA draft, had three points, six rebounds, and four turnovers in 19 ineffective minutes. John Salmons led Sacramento with 20 points and had a chance to win the game, but his drive to the basket with two seconds remaining came up short of the rim. Hornets 99, Clippers 87: At Los Angeles, David West scored 27 points and New Orleans beat the Los Angeles Clippers. Peja Stojakovic had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets, who won their third straight following a home-and-home sweep of Oklahoma City. Forward Morris Peterson did not play because of pain in his right knee, but backup point guard Devin Brown was back in the lineup, scoring 11 points after spraining his right ankle in Saturday's 109-97 win. Eric Gordon scored 25 points to lead the Clippers. NBA-Globetrotters deal National Basketball Association officials struck a deal with the Harlem Globetrotters that will see both groups work together on planning the comedy basketball squad's worldwide tours. The partnership links the sport's elite stars with a team that has toured the world for 83 years. They play 240 US games and more than 100 international contests each year, emphasizing laughter more than competition along the way. “We believe our unique brand of basketball showmanship, paired with the expertise and infrastructure of the NBA's global operation, is an unbeatable combination for both organizations and for basketball all over the world,” Globetrotters chief executive Kurt Schneider said.
