Houston, Nov 7 (IANS): The Houston Rockets rolled past in-state rival San Antonio Spurs 98-81 at Toyota Center to claim a dream start - the sixth consecutive victory of the new season.

The Rockets Thursday night had an advantage over the Spurs from the very beginning as the latter played without key players Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter, reports Xinhua.

The Spurs were only allowed to score 29 points by halftime due to Houston's aggressive defence.

Houston dominated San Antonio all the way from the first to the third period, leading 81-55 at the beginning of the last quarter.

With the benches cleared for the final nine minutes and the Rockets scoring just 17-fourth quarter points, they joined the 1985-86 Nuggets as the only teams to open a season with six-consecutive double-digit wins.

Dwight Howard scored 32 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Rockets while James Harden chipped in 20 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Cory Joseph led the Spurs with 18 points off the bench and Aron Baynes had 12 points and 11 rebounds. With the loss, the Spurs drop to 2-2.