Dallas— Tracy McGrady had 31 points and nine assists and Rafer Alston added a season-high 24 points, helping the Houston Rockets push their franchise-best winning streak to 17 games with a 113-98 victory over the Dirk Nowitzki-less Dallas Mavericks yesterday.

Houston’s streak is tied for seventh-best in NBA history. The Rockets will try moving into a tie for fourth Saturday night at home against New Orleans, the next team they’re trying to catch for a top-tier seed in the Western Conference.

Josh Howard scored 21 points and Jason Terry had 17 for Dallas, which lost its third straight and fourth in five games. The Mavs also had won 12 straight at home — but this time they were without Nowitzki. The reigning MVP was serving a one-game suspension for a hard foul on Utah’s Andrei Kirilenko.

Bulls 107, Cavaliers 96

At Chicago, Ben Gordon and Luol Deng scored 23 points apiece, and Chicago overcame 39 points from LeBron James to beat Cleveland.

The Bulls went on a 17-point run early in the third quarter to grab a 66-53 lead, and Gordon scored nine straight during a 51-second burst late in the period to make it a 17-point game. That was enough to offset another outstanding effort by James.

The Cavaliers got 15 points from Devin Brown and 14 from Wally Szczerbiak.

Spurs 108, Pacers 97

At San Antonio, Manu Ginobili scored 28 points to help San Antonio win its 11th straight, keeping the defending NBA champions atop the tight Western Conference.

Tony Parker added 19 points in the game, which wasn’t close after halftime and saw Spurs coach Gregg Popovich get ejected in the second quarter. Tim Duncan had 12 rebounds and six points on 3-of-11 shooting.

Danny Granger led Indiana, which has lost two straight, with 22 points. Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy each added 13 points. AP