Shaquille O'Neal outscored and outrebounded Yao Ming in their individual matchup, but the Chinese star had the upper hand on Shaq as the Houston Rockets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 99-87 in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The National Basketball Association's featured Christmas showdown saw the Lakers' NBA-best record fall to 20-7, level with Sacramento atop the Pacific Division.

Houston Rockets centre Yao Ming drives to the basket past Los Angeles Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal during the second quarter.  [AP]

The Lakers lost 4-of-6 following a 10-game winning streak. The defeat was only their second at home in the past 10 months.

O'Neal finished with better numbers in the battle of the NBA's top centres, scoring 22 points with 12-of-18 shooting from the free throw line and 10 rebounds.

Yao finished with 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting and eight rebounds. He spent much of the game defending opponents other than O'Neal.

Yao was whistled for his fifth foul and spent the final nine minutes and 26 seconds on the bench as the Rockets outscored the Lakers 23-10 the rest of the way.

The Rockets' defence, ranked third in the NBA, allowed just six baskets in the fourth quarter.

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 23 points, 11 of them in the third quarter as the Lakers rallied from a 57-44 half-time deficit.

But Houston guard Steve Francis scored 22 points to ignite the Rockets. He made just 7-of-18 from the field but was 8-of-10 from the free throw line, grabbed nine rebounds, made seven assists and nabbed a pair of steals.

Jimmy Jackson added 18 points for Houston. Gary Payton scored 13 points and made seven assists for the Lakers, who also had 11 rebounds from Horace Grant.

McGrady shines

In Orlando, Tracy McGrady scored 41 points to out-duel rookie sensation LeBron James in a classic showdown as the Orlando Magic edged the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-101 in overtime on Thursday.

McGrady hit two key 3-pointers in the extra period to help the Magic finally get by James and the Cavaliers, as the rookie scored 34 points in another brilliant performance.

The 24-year-old McGrady also had 11 assists and eight rebounds for the improving Magic, who have won seven of 10 games since ending a 19-game losing streak.

The 18-year-old James matched McGrady for most of the night, but missed all four of his shots in overtime after being 13-for-24 in regulation.

Juwan Howard had 19 points for Orlando, including the first eight Magic points of the overtime period.

Drew Gooden added 12 points for the winners.

Carlos Boozer had 18 points and 18 rebounds for Cleveland, while Eric Williams also had 18 points and seven rebounds.

The Cavaliers had their three-game winning streak snapped, the team's longest in two seasons.

In Sacramento, Dirk Nowitzki had 31 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 111-103 comeback win over the Kings.

Dallas trailed by 16 points at the half, but out-scored the Kings 67-43 in the second half to win their fifth regular season game in six tries in Sacramento.

Antoine Walker had 23 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, while Antawn Jamison added 22 points for the Mavericks, who snapped a four-game losing streak.

Mike Bibby scored 23 points for the Kings, who were without Peja Stojakovic, suspended for one game for brushing against an official.

Brad Miller had 13 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists before fouling out, as the Kings lost at home for just the second time in 17 games this season.

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