Tracy McGrady scored 30 points and the Rockets beat the Charlotte Bobcats 89-80 on Friday night to break a tie with the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks for the second-best victory streak in league history. Only the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers, who won 33 in a row, had a longer streak.
The win also sets up Sunday's showdown with the current Lakers at the Toyota Center. They're both 45-20, the best records in the West.
As the final seconds ticked off, Dikembe Mutombo waved his arms, urging the capacity crowd to stand and cheer. McGrady simply stood at the free throw line near the Rockets bench, a tired grin on his face.
When the buzzer sounded, red streamers rained down as the crowd started chanting "M-V-P!" for McGrady.
Jason Richardson scored 28 points and Emeka Okafor added 23 for the Bobcats, who've lost five in a row to Houston.
Rafer Alston added 17 and Shane Battier had 12 points and nine rebounds for Houston, now 9-0 since Yao Ming's season-ending foot injury.
The Rockets also extended their home-court winning streak to 14 games, the longest since the 1985-86 team won 20 in a row at the Summit.
Houston has won 25 of its last 26 games and 30 of its last 33, easily the best stretch of any team since late December.
Now comes the real test - after the Lakers on Sunday, Houston faces Boston, New Orleans, Golden State and Phoenix next week.
The Rockets had won 13 of their previous 20 games by double digits, but the Bobcats made them work for this one.
Houston hit seven of its first 12 shots, then missed its next 14 tries to fuel a 21-1 Charlotte run. Richardson scored 11 points during the spurt, including two breakaway dunks and a 3-pointer. Jared Dudley's putback two minutes into the second quarter gave Charlotte a 29-18 lead, the largest deficit the Rockets had faced during their victory streak.
McGrady slammed home an alley-oop pass from Bobby Jackson with 8:28 left in the half, Houston's first field goal in 10 minutes. The Rockets were impatient on offense the rest of the half, heaving up questionable long shots early in possessions. They missed 14 of their first 17 shots from 3-point range.
Alston hit a 3 with 1:46 left, then hit a driving one-hander to pull Houston to 41-36. Okafor answered with a bank shot to put Charlotte up by seven at halftime.
