HOUSTON – This time, there was no second-half disappearing act by the Houston Rockets.

Luis Scola scored 24 points and Kevin Martin added 21 to help Houston win its first game of the season with a 120-94 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night.

The Rockets led at the half in four of their first five losses and then faded in the second half. They had no such letdown against the Timberwolves. They had lost the first five games by an average of six points.

“It was just good to get a win after all this time and we’ve been so close,” Rockets Coach Rick Adelman said. “To come out and get one now we can start moving in the other direction.”

Yao Ming, playing under a strict time limit while recovering from foot surgery, had 13 points and four rebounds in 16 minutes. Shane Battier added 17 points for Houston, which lost its first five games. The Rockets lost their first 10 games in 1982-83.

“We did a much better job of finding Yao,” Adelman said. “Taking it away and then coming to him and reposting him, they had trouble guarding him so we wanted to be sure we went to him.”

Minnesota lost for the sixth time in seven games. Kevin Love led the Timberwolves with 16 points and 16 rebounds. Michael Beasley added 15 points.

“We were mentally prepared for the game but we couldn’t throw a pea into the ocean,” Minnesota Coach Kurt Rambis said.

SUNS 118, HAWKS 114: Jason Richardson scored 21 points, Steve Nash added 19 and Phoenix held off host Atlanta’s second-half comeback to beat the Hawks, who suffered their first loss of the season.

76ERS 106, KNICKS 96: Elton Brand scored 20 points, Lou Williams and Jrue Holiday each had 19, and Philadelphia won in New York.

PISTONS 102, WARRIORS 97: Richard Hamilton scored 27 points and Rodney Stuckey added 21 points and nine assists to help host Detroit beat Golden State.