Yao Ming scored all 18 of his points in the first half and reserve Maurice Taylor had 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter in the Houston Rockets' 105-90 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers 105-90 Monday night.

Steve Francis, held to four points in Houston's loss at Portland on Friday night, finished with 19 points and nine assists to help the Rockets tie Dallas for first place in the Midwest Division.

Corey Maggette scored a season-high 33 points for the Clippers, who missed 11 of their first 12 shots and finished with a field- goal percentage of 34.1 against the league's top defense.

Playing its ninth game without power forward Elton Brand and third without point guard Marko Jaric, Los Angeles has lost four in a row following a four-game winning streak.

Clippers scoring leader Quentin Richardson, coming off a career-high 36 points Saturday in a loss at Minnesota, missed all four shots he took and left the game with 3:23 remaining in the first quarter after spraining his left ankle.

Francis hit a 20-foot jumper that gave Houston a 67-51 lead with 5:22 left in the third quarter. The lead dwindled to 73-66 when Clippers center Predrag Drobnjak made a 3-pointer from the top of the key with less than a second left in the period.

But Los Angeles got no closer. Former Clipper 3-point specialist Eric Piatkowski, making his Rockets debut after missing the first 12 games and most of the preseason with a sprained left ankle, opened the fourth quarter with his first 3-pointer in a Houston uniform. Moochie Norris and Taylor also connected from 3-point range arc for a 12-point lead with 10 minutes remaining.

Piatkowski, who played in more games for the Clippers' franchise than anyone except Randy Smith (news - external web site), signed a three-year, $8 million contract with Houston on July 27 after leaving the Clippers as an unrestricted free agent.

Piatkowski, who appeared in only three playoff games during his nine seasons in Los Angeles, set Clippers franchise records with 738 3-pointers made, 1,835 attempted, and a .402 percentage from behind the arc. He played had five points in 11 minutes against his ex-teammates after missing his first two shots from 3-point range.

Maggette scored 20 points in the first half, but the rest of the Clippers combined for just 21 as the Rockets built a 14-point halftime of his 10 rebounds — but took only one shot in the second half.

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