The Houston Rockets extended their winning streak to 22 games Sunday afternoon, knocking off the visiting L.A. Lakers, 104-92. There were also several streak-relevant aspects within the game:

*After the Rockets took a 59-44 halftime lead, the Lakers came out after the intermission and outscored Houston 12-0 to make it competitive again.

*With the game still tight until about halfway through the fourth quarter, the Rockets pulled away at the end. Quoting from the above-linked article:

Jordan Farmar's 3-pointer with 6:09 left pulled the Lakers to 86-84, but [Shane] Battier drove for a layup 25 seconds later.

Battier and [Bobby] Jackson sank 3s as Houston surged to a 96-86 lead with 3:20 to play. With [Tracy] McGrady occupying the defense at the other side of the floor, [Rafer] Alston drove for a layup and Jackson swished a jumper from the wing [which] made it 100-86.

*Houston's Alston went 8-of-11 on three-pointers.

In my previous entry (directly below), I came up with a range of estimates of the probability for the Rockets' winning 21 straight games. These estimates wouldn't change all that much after one additional game, so I'll wait a few games each time before updating the calculations.

Next up for the Rockets are the Boston Celtics (52-13), who come to Houston Tuesday night. One thing that should work in the Rockets' favor is that the Celtics must play at San Antonio Monday night, as road games on back-to-back nights exacerbate the draining nature of travel.

ADDENDUM: Also on Sunday, Detroit's Jarvis Hayes had a hot-shooting day in leading the Pistons over the New Orleans Hornets. In all honesty, I had not previously heard of Hayes.