NEW YORK — The Houston Rockets are finding out how good they can be when their two big stars are healthy.

The New York Knicks think Jalen Rose will bring them the same sort of success — eventually.

Tracy McGrady had 23 points and Yao Ming added 15 to lead the Rockets to a tough 93-89 win over the Knicks on Sunday in Rose's first game since Friday's trade with Toronto.

The win was the third straight for the Rockets, who struggled while Yao missed 21 games because of toe surgery and McGrady sat out five games with back spasms.

Yao, in his fourth game back after surgery, appeared to have shaken off any lingering effects of the injury with a strong start. Houston's record is 12-6 when he and McGrady play.

"I think as far as myself and Yao, we play well together," McGrady said "I think other guys have to get on our same page and realize that the offense runs through myself and through Yao."

David Wesley added 19 for Houston, including several key free throws late, to help out in the effort.

The Knicks had a chance to tie with 6.9 seconds left, but a 3-point attempt by Rose was partially blocked by Stromile Swift and fell short. Wesley, who made four free throws in the last 23 seconds, hit his final one with 3 seconds remaining to ensure the victory.

"I wanted that one," Rose said. "I wanted that one very bad and I'd have liked to see what had happened had he not blocked my shot."

Rose started and scored 16 points and had 11 assists, and received a warm reception from the crowd. Rose and a first-round draft pick went to the Knicks for Antonio Davis.

"He's a good basketball player," Knicks coach Larry Brown said of Rose. "He's going to help our young guys just with his presence."

Rose will also help the offense with scoring leader Stephon Marbury missing his second straight game with an injured left shoulder. He first hurt it in a loss to Minnesota on Jan. 16 and missed three games with the injury last month.

With both their stars healthy, the Rockets have their longest winning streak since taking five in a row from Dec. 6-15.

"We are doing well," Yao said. "But we must do more. We are always looking forward."

Jamal Crawford scored 24 points and Eddy Curry had 15 for the Knicks, who have lost five straight and 11 of their last 12.

This is the fourth time this season the Knicks have had a losing streak of five games or longer. The only good news Sunday was that they kept the score close after losing their last four by an average of 20 points, including a 130-97 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.

"I don't get caught up with wins and losses," Brown said. "I get caught up with guys trying to do the right thing, respecting their teammates, and playing with effort. It's disappointing to lose and not be rewarded for that as a team. But from my perspective, it's a big step forward."

McGrady scored just four points in the first half, but struck in the third quarter. The Rockets were down 49-48 before McGrady and Wesley keyed a 16-3 run to take a 64-52 lead midway through the quarter.

But the Knicks, led by Channing Frye, scored nine straight points to cut the lead to 66-63. McGrady stretched Houston's lead back to six with a 3-pointer, but Rose answered with a 3 as the quarter ended.

Yao scored eight of the Rockets' first 10 points and had two big blocks early in the first quarter. He had all of his 15 points by halftime.

"There's going to be some bumps in the road certainly," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "You don't sit out that long in this competitive of a league and make it back the you were playing before. You saw tonight he started out great and then he couldn't make (shots)."

Houston led by as many as nine in the second quarter before the Knicks rallied to cut the lead to 45-42 by halftime.

At Toronto, Elton Brand scored 30 points, Sam Cassell added 27, and Los Angeles moved 11 games over .500 for the first time in team history.Cassell sent the game into overtime with a 3-pointer and scored six points in the extra period.Cuttino Mobley scored 20 points and Chris Kaman had 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Clippers.The franchise hasn't been 11 games over the break-even mark since the Buffalo Braves were 30-19 on Jan. 28, 1976.Chris Bosh had 29 points, 16 rebounds and six assists, but he missed three jumpers in the final minute of overtime, including a potential tying one as time expired.

At Sacramento, Calif., Mike Bibby scored 23 points, Kevin Martin added 20 and the Kings hit more than enough field goals in the fourth quarter.Ron Artest scored nine points for the Kings, who rebounded just fine from a humiliating 0-for-20 shooting performance in the fourth quarter in Salt Lake City two days earlier. Sacramento managed just 12 points on free throws while blowing a 12-point lead in an 89-79 defeat.Mehmet Okur had 25 points and eight rebounds for the Jazz, who have lost four of six.