Awakened too early by the phone, Stephen Graham was just disoriented enough not to believe what he was hearing.

Graham was in Sioux Falls, S.D., where he was eight games into his career with the Skyforce of the Continental Basketball Association, when his agent, Robert Montgomery, called to say the Rockets wanted to bring him to the NBA.

"I couldn't believe it," Graham said. "I thought he was joking around with me at first, but he was serious. I called my CBA coach (Dave Jaeger), and he told me I was being called up. I was pretty excited. I got right up and started packing."

Graham could have really thought himself the subject of a practical joke when he got to Portland and the Rockets were not there, having taken their side trip to Las Vegas. But he practiced with the team Saturday, studied with coaches Sunday, was on the Rockets' active roster by Sunday night and played 35 seconds, scoring four points.

"He leads the league in points per minute," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gunday said.