Wall has triple-double in Wizards' 98-91 win

WASHINGTON(AP) Rookie John Wall got his first professional triple-double with 19 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds to lead the Washington Wizards to a 98-91 win over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.

Yao Ming missed most of the game after he strained a tendon in his leg in the first quarter.

Washington used a 10-0 run late in the fourth quarter to pull away after blowing an 11-point lead.

Andray Blatche finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Wizards and Al Thornton scored 20 points, including the go-ahead basket off a pass from Wall with 4:53 left to give Washington the lead for good at 86-85.

Yao played the first 6:14 of the game and was held scoreless, making it the first time he has failed to score in an NBA game since November 5, 2002, his fourth game in the league.

Kevin Martin scored 31 points for the Rockets, who have lost six of seven.

Luis Scola scored 24 points for the Rockets before fouling out. The duo combined to score Houston's first 17 points in the fourth quarter, including seven in a row that quickly put the Rockets up 85-84.

The Wizards were playing in their first game since coach Flip Saunders walked out of practice on Monday and then called for a second session later that day, frustrated with his young team's lack of urgency after starting the season with 1-4 record.

Before the game, Saunders said he wanted to prevent his young squad from ``picking up too many bad habits.''

Saunders said he has been pleased with the effort in the subsequent practices.

Yao sat out the entire 2009-10 season after undergoing surgery to repair his broken left foot. The Rockets have been limiting Yao's minutes early in the season and before the game, coach Rick Adelman said no decision has been made on increasing Yao's minutes. ``He is coming off a 15-, 16-month layoff. He's not the Yao from two years ago,'' Adelman said.

Notes: Gilbert Arenas, questionable for the game due to soreness in his left knee, came off the bench and scored five points in 23 minutes. ``Right now we're in a situation, until we he see he can really go hard in back-to-backs and get that weight down a little bit, he's not going to be able to play major, major minutes,'' Saunders said before the game. ... Rockets G Kyle Lowry, who missed the last two games with back spasms, was able to play, but Adelman said he's not 100 percent. ... Magic Johnson watched the game courtside with Wizards owner Ted Leonsis. ... Yi Jianlian scored a season-high 13 points for the Wizards.