LOS ANGELES, 19 November 2003 — The weary Houston Rockets couldn’t throw the ball in the ocean, but their defense stepped up to shut down Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers.

Cuttino Mobley scored 19 points and the visiting Rockets held Iverson to 15 points, en route to a 74-66 victory over the equally icy-shooting 76ers on Monday night. “It was ugly basketball,” said Rockets guard Jim Jackson, who added 12 points. “But in the record column it still says a win.”

Yao Ming collected 12 points and 14 rebounds, Steve Francis had 11 points and a season-high 10 rebounds for Houston (7-3).

Though the Rockets struggled on offense, their defense turned in a season-tying best effort for fewest points allowed in the final game of a grueling four-game, five-night road trip.

Iverson entered the game with a league-best 29.7 scoring average but the All-Star guard made just 4-of-19 shots in 45 minutes of action.

Iverson received little help from his teammates as the injury-depleted 76ers shot a season-low 31.5 percent, (23-73). It matched their second-lowest point total in franchise history, following a 57-point effort at Miami in 1996.

In contrast, Houston shot just 32.5 percent from the field (26-of-80) but nailed nine 3-pointers.

The Rockets built a 46-36 halftime edge, and stayed in front by limiting the hosts to nine-of-37 shooting in the second half.

Elsewhere:

Dallas Mavericks 105 Portland Trail Blazers 98: Steve Nash recorded his first career triple-double with 14 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds, and the Mavericks overcame a 14-point third-quarter deficit to get past the visiting Trail Blazers.

Michael Finley had a season-high 25 points, while Dirk Nowitzki, and Antawn Jamison added 20 points apiece for Dallas, (7-4), which improved to 5-0 at home.

Rasheed Wallace scored 31 points while Zach Randolph had 26 points along with 19 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to keep Portland, (5-5), from dropping to 0-4 on the road.

Utah Jazz 90 Orlando Magic 88: Andrei Kirilenko had 25 points and Carlos Arroyo added 16, including the game-winning free throws with 29 seconds left, as the host Jazz stretched the Magic’s losing streak to 10 games.

Matt Harpring collected 14 points and a career-best 19 rebounds for Utah, (6-5), which stayed perfect (5-0) at home.

Tracy McGrady led Orlando with 29 points but missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have lifted the Magic to their first win since opening night.

New York Knicks 89 Boston Celtics 86: Backup center Michael Doleac hit the go-ahead jumper with 1:55 remaining, and added two free throws with 5.4 seconds left, rallying the host Knicks from a 17-point first-half deficit to stun the Celtics.

After Doleac’s two free throws, Paul Pierce tried to force overtime but missed a 3-pointer as time expired. It allowed the Knicks to halt a four-game slide overall, and a string of eight consecutive losses to the Celtics.

Allan Houston led the Knicks with 26 points and Keith Van Horn added 21.

Vin Baker had 20 points, and Pierce added 17, to pace Boston.

Washington Wizards 106 Atlanta Hawks 97: Jarvis Hayes scored 16 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer to spark a fourth-quarter run, as the visiting Wizards stopped a four-game slide.

Larry Hughes had 26 points, and Gilbert Arenas added 23 for Washington, which outscored the Hawks 42-33 in the final 12 minutes.

Jason Terry led Atlanta with 25 points, and Shareef Abdur-Rahim added 20.