No Yao and Lakers Score Only 74 - Lose by 2

Tracy McGrady followed a bad play with a very good one. It gave the Houston Rockets an improbable victory.

McGrady's driving left-handed layup with 0.3 seconds left lifted the short-handed Rockets to a 76-74 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night.

The Rockets (10-13) won for the seventh time in nine games despite the absence of All-Star center Yao Ming, who missed his first game this season and the third of his career because of a sore right big toe.

The right-handed McGrady drove around Devean George at the top of the key, and avoided Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown before laying the ball in just before time ran out.