Houston (16-9) made a major splash by picking up Artest from Sacramento (7-19) on Aug. 14. He played two-plus seasons with the Kings, and was their second-leading scorer last season with 20.5 points per game.

"This is definitely the high point of my career," Artest said at the time of the trade. "It's the biggest opportunity I've ever had playing basketball."

The opportunity has turned into one in which he comes off the bench after starting his first 21 games with Houston. Artest had missed two straight games with a sprained right ankle before he scored 20 points as a reserve in his return to action Tuesday in a 108-96 win over Denver.

"It didn't really feel like anything," Artest said. "It was something that we talked about even before I got here. It was something that was one of the things we were prepared for. It doesn't matter either way - Shane (Battier) or me starting, it doesn't matter."

Battier made his eighth start and scored nine points. Rockets coach Rick Adelman likes the versatility he has with Artest, Battier and Tracy McGrady at the wing positions.

"It's a lot easier, because when you have the three of those guys you can really pick and choose how to play them," Adelman said. "I like bringing Ron in the middle of the first quarter, then you can bring Shane back for Tracy. It just gives us good defenders and quality people at those two spots."

The move may have paid off the most for McGrady, who notched his fourth career triple-double with 20 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists. Yao Ming scored a team-high 32 points on 13-of-19 shooting as Houston won its fifth straight home game.

"It was, overall, a great effort on our part," McGrady said. "We can be a dangerous team, when we've got the defense as well, clicking like that, we can be a pretty good team."

The Kings are playing the second game of a difficult four-game road trip that finishes with stops in New Orleans and San Antonio. Sacramento fell to 1-1 under interim coach Kenny Natt - who replaced Reggie Theus on Monday - with a 109-77 loss at Portland on Tuesday.

"Guys started hanging their heads and feeling sorry for themselves," Natt said. "My job is to try to keep these guys motivated and try to encourage them as much as possible."

Sacramento fell to 2-10 on the road as John Salmons scored 21 points. The Kings have played 17 straight games without injured leading scorer Kevin Martin.

Houston begins a four-game road trip after this contest, but the Rockets are trying to make sure they don't overlook the lowly Kings.

"You've gotta get Sacramento coming in here," Adelman said. "We've got to come out and play a solid game because after that we've got three more (road) games in a row (in four days)."