WASHINGTON – Yao Ming scored 14 of his 21 points in the third quarter, and the Houston Rockets had a season-high 27 assists in Tuesday night’s 93-80 victory over the Washington Wizards.

All five Rockets starters scored in double figures – Cuttino Mobley, Steve Francis and Jim Jackson had 16 apiece, and Kelvin Cato scored 12. Yao shot 6-of-9 from the field, 9-of-10 on free throws and had 11 rebounds. Francis added 10 assists.

The Rockets, who have won five of seven, broke open a close game with a 14-3 run midway through the fourth quarter. Four of the seven baskets came on layups or dunks, even though Yao wasn’t in the game.

Hawks 86, Spurs 77

ATLANTA – Shareef Abdur-Rahim scored 29 points and the Atlanta Hawks built a big lead over San Antonio, then held on for a surprising 86-77 victory.

The defending NBA champion Spurs lost for only the second time in their last 19 games.

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Yao’s damage came earlier. After a quiet first half, he began to assert himself after he was leveled by Brendan Haywood midway through the third quarter. Yao lay on the floor for about 30 seconds, but he stayed in the game and made both free throws, the start of a run in which he scored 12 of his team’s 19 points to end the quarter.

Larry Hughes scored 23 points to lead the Wizards, who have lost 10 of 12. Washington, already without injured scorers Gilbert Arenas and Jerry Stackhouse, lost veteran forward Christian Laettner earlier in the day to a five-game suspension for violating the NBA’s drug policy.

The Wizards missed their first five shots and had two shot clock violations in the first five minutes, finally scoring on Kwame Brown’s three-point play with 6:46 to go in the first quarter. Larry Hughes had a 1-for-7 start from the field as the Rockets built a 19-5 lead.

Then the Rockets got cold and careless. Back-to-back turnovers, a charging foul and a missed alley-oop by Maurice Taylor helped spur an 18-3 Wizards run that gave Washington its first lead early in the second quarter.

The Rockets had 11 first-half turnovers, but they led 43-41 lead at the break.

Back-to-back 3-pointers Steve Blake and Hughes and a hook by Etan Thomas cut a 10-point Rockets lead to two early in the fourth quarter, but the Rockets put the game away by attacking Washington’s weak inside defense.

Notes: Houston’s reserves shot 0-for-5 in the first half. … Cato missed most of the first quarter after turning his left ankle, but he returned and played 34 minutes. … It was a night for Terrapins heroes: Francis, Blake and Washington’s Juan Dixon are all recent stars from nearby Maryland. … The Rockets are 7-2 on the road against Eastern Conference teams.

AP-ES-01-13-04 2126EST