Tuesday, January 8th (All times eastern)

Houston Rockets (17-17) at Washington Wizards (17-15), 7 p.m.

(Sports Network) - The Houston Rockets will open a short two-game road trip this evening against the Washington Wizards at the Verizon Center.

Houston has won two straight and five of its last eight games, including Saturday's 103-91 victory over the New York Knicks at the Toyota Center. Yao Ming scored 30 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out six assists and blocked four shots to lead the Rockets.

Aaron Brooks came off the bench to score a career-high 22 points and Rafer Alston tallied 14 points for the Rockets, who improved to 4-2 without injured star Tracy McGrady in the lineup. McGrady is sidelined with a knee injury.

The Rockets will also visit the Knicks on the trip and are 9-11 as the visitor this season.

Meanwhile, the Wizards have won two straight and four of six. They notched a 108-86 triumph over the Seattle SuperSonics on Sunday at the Verizon Center, as Caron Butler exploded for 33 points in the win.

Antawn Jamison notched a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds for the Wizards. DeShawn Stevenson added 13 points, while Brendan Haywood scored 10 points and grabbed nine boards for Washington, which is 10-7 at home in 2007-08.

The Rockets went 2-0 against Washington last season and have won four straight, seven of eight and nine of the last 11 meetings.

Houston has won two in a row, three of four and five of its last seven trips to D.C.

01/08 13:12:05 ET