It was Houston's 20th consecutive triumph, the same number of wins in a row produced by the Milwaukee Bucks 37 years ago. The NBA record is 33 straight victories by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.

McGrady scored 28 points, Shane Battier added 15 and Chuck Hayes contributed a dozen rebounds.

It was also Houston's 12th straight road victory. The Rockets' last eight wins have come without Yao Ming, who will be out for the remainder of the season with a stress fracture in his left foot.

Houston will try for its 21st consecutive win Friday at home against Charlotte before taking on the Lakers Sunday and the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Celtics Tuesday.

Atlanta, which has lost six out of seven, was led by 28 points from Joe Johnson. Josh Smith pulled down a career-best 22 rebounds.

The Hawks were within a point with five minutes remaining, but Houston ran off six in a row and Atlanta could not recover.