Seattle, WA (My Sportsbook) - The Seattle SuperSonics hope to end a two- game skid when they welcome the Houston Rockets to KeyArena Friday night.

Houston has lost three of its last five but is coming off a 91-84 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

Kelvin Cato, who had played a total of 20 minutes in Houston's previous eight games, played 31 strong minutes against Golden State. Cato scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the victory.

"It's hard for me to keep my attitude good when I'm not playing,'' admitted Cato. "You just have to stay focused and when you get the opportunity to shine, you've got to go play. I was getting good passes where I could finish.''

Houston rookie Yao Ming, who will play his first regular-season game against the Sonics in Seattle, has played in 14 games this season and is averaging 9.6 points and 5.1 rebounds. He has started four contests.

The Rockets are 3-5 on the road and have a 5-5 mark within the Western Conference.

Seattle is coming off a 117-99 loss to Memphis. Rashard Lewis scored 24 points in the losing effort. Desmond Mason scored 22 off the bench, while Gary Payton scored 17 and had 13 assists. The Grizzlies took an early lead and ran away from the obviously fatigued Sonics.

"We make no excuses,'' Seattle coach Nate McMillan said. "They were fresh. We've played four games in five nights, and the Grizzlies jumped on us quick like they should have. Despite that, we won't use fatigue as an excuse. The Grizzlies just played better.''

The Sonics are 3-2 at home and have a 7-3 mark within the Western Conference.

Seattle captured the first meeting of the season 104-97, at Houston on November 5.