Record: 10-5.

Wednesday: Indiana at Toyota Center, 7:30 p.m.

TV/radio: FSH; 610 AM and 850 AM (Spanish).

MIAMI - Game on the line. Nothing settled. Five minutes remaining.

The Rockets were back at the part of the game at which truths are revealed and most games are won or lost. They had blitzed Washington late to start the trip, held off Orlando down the stretch a night later. Then the Miami Heat were within four Monday night, and the Rockets had reached closing time again.

With another game to be decided, the Rockets owned the final minutes again. They pulled away from the Heat in the last five minutes to complete a sweep of their three-game road trip with a 107-98 win with the same finishing kick of the previous nights since leaving town.

In a season that had been as inconsistent as the Dow Jones, the Rockets had their fifth win in six games (losing only in the game Yao Ming missed) and believed their strong finishes revealed they have begun to put things together.

"I think on this trip we learned something," Yao said after scoring 28 points and getting 12 rebounds. "I think we found the way we're going to play Basketball ? just use the advantage we have on the team and create open shots for teammates. For about our first 10 games we played with just our talent, not much with our team discipline, just skill, not passing the ball the way coach wants. I think we did very well on this trip.

"I think we are very clear where we're going to hit them. The Heat don't really have a big body. I know what I should do."

Efficient use of shots

He dominated, even without taking any more shots than Ron Artest or Rafer Alston. As with the Wizards down the stretch Friday, or the Magic when Yao sent Dwight Howard to the bench with foul trouble, Yao commanded double-team attention, and sometimes even a zone defense.

That left shooters open, and even with Tracy McGrady making two of seven shots and scoring six points, the Rockets had their best 3-point shooting night of the season, hitting 52.6 percent.

Still, they would not have been able to stretch their lead to as much as 13 or pull away late had they not kept Dwyane Wade under control. That fell to Artest, who changed his usual defensive style to back up into the path of Wade's drives.

"Jack (Sikma, Rockets assistant coach) came up with a great plan," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "(Wade) is such a tough cover. We wanted to keep him from getting to the basket. When he gets to the basket, he's such a tough finisher and he gets to the line so much. We wanted to zone up as much as we could. It was important (Artest) stayed patient. He's an attacker. Tonight, he backed off."

Wade had been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week after averaging 32.3 points and 9.7 assists. On Monday, he made just seven of 23 shots. He had only three field goals in the paint.

"I just think he probably had an off night," Artest said. "He played really bad tonight. He didn't play like I'm used to seeing him. Of course. I guess I'm one of the better defenders. If I'm on him I have a better chance than some other guys. I like to push up. I don't like to back up. If I get up on him, obviously, he'll blow right by me. But I still like to get blown by sometimes and just work."

Challenged at the end

That strategy worked, but with five minutes left, the Heat had cut the lead to four.

But the Rockets suddenly pulled away as they had down the stretch in every game of the trip.

Artest hit a jumper, then stripped Wade to start a break Carl Landry finished by slamming a missed shot.

Miami rookie Mario Chalmers hit a 3-pointer, giving him a season-high 23 points. But Landry grabbed another rebound, putting it back in through a foul for a three-point play and an eight-point lead with 3? minutes left.

Yao scored on a jump hook, putting the Rockets safely in front 100-91 with 2? minutes remaining to complete the road-trip sweep.

"Our guys, for whatever reason, since we've come on this trip, we hit a groove," Adelman said.

They hit it every night, with five minutes left and three consecutive games hanging in the balance.