OKLAHOMA CITY, March 23 (Ticker) -- Yao Ming and Rafer Alston ended the Houston Rockets' bad luck within the division and delivered a blow to the playoff hopes of the New Orleans Hornets.

Yao scored 22 points and Alston nailed a pair of jumpers down the stretch as the Rockets snapped a six-game losing streak with a 93-92 victory over the stumbling Hornets.

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The Rockets (30-39) improved to 17-17 on the road and are the only team with a better record on the road than at home (13-22). They came in 0-13 against Southwest Division rivals but avoided possibly becoming the first team in NBA history to go winless in division play.

"It was shocking to think that we've been getting our behinds handed to us within the division," Alston said. "That's problematic when you are trying to compete for a title. It's to a point where we just have to win and get it off our chests."

The Hornets (32-34) snapped a season-high eight-game losing streak with Tuesday's win at New Orleans, moving within one-half game of Sacramento for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. They rode that momentum into Thursday and held a 54-45 edge at the half.

However, the Rockets took charge in the third quarter, outscoring the Hornets, 26-10, to take a 71-64 edge.

"We came out ready to play in the third quarter," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "We were fortunate that they had a couple second-chance opportunities at the beginning of the quarter that they missed. Sometimes it's that simple - make or miss - and we made a good percentage tonight."

The Rockets made 8-of-15 shots from the field in the period, while the Hornets connected on just 5-of-29.

"We didn't play like we wanted to win," Hornets coach Byron Scott said. "We came out in the third quarter and acted like we were up 20. We blew it, that's the bottom line."

The Hornets rallied to take an 84-83 lead on a jam by David West with 2 1/2 minutes left. But Alston hit consecutive jumpers and Yao added a turnaround from the baseline for an 89-84 lead with 28 seconds remaining.

"I was in a comfort zone," Alston said. "The team kept swinging the ball to me. Shot clock is running down, there is only one thing to do, and that's hit it."

Rookie Chris Paul and Rasual Butler hit 3-pointers in the closing seconds to make the final a bit closer.

Yao made 9-of-16 shots and added eight rebounds while Alston scored 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Juwan Howard scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half for the Rockets, who shot 49 percent (33-of-67).

"Yao was much more aggressive in the second half, but he's has to continue to come up big for us like this for us to win," Van Gundy said.

West had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Paul added 13 points for the Hornets, who shot 36 percent (35-of-97).

"Hopefully we just put this game behind us," Paul said. "I don't think we are one of those teams that dwell on the past, we just get ready for the next game."