"I knew I was going to take over," McGrady said.

    McGrady scored 15 of his 31 points in the final period, hitting the go-ahead jumper to lift the Houston Rockets to an 84-77 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday night.

    "I couldn't seem to get going, physically," McGrady said.

    But once he found the energy, he didn't stop.

    McGrady hit a 22-foot jumper with 1:19 left to break a 77-77 tie. Houston's Shane Battier blocked a driving layup by Ben Gordon with 25 seconds left. McGrady then hit one of two free throws to make it a three-point game and Chuck Hayes and Luther Head added two foul shots apiece.

    In the only two other games on Monday, the Clippers beat the Hornets 100- 90 and the Nuggets dumped the Bucks 104-92.

    But in Chicago, McGrady notched his sixth straight 30-point performance. He had to work to do it though after hitting just three of 10 shots in the first half. But he rebounded with 25 in the second half.

    "I kind of got loose a little bit, made some adjustments, (got) the ball on the move a lot and (created) some space on offense," he said.

    Juwan Howard added 16 points and nine rebounds. Dikembe Mutombo grabbed 16 rebounds, and the Rockets won for the sixth time in eight games since Yao Ming broke a bone in his right leg. They hit just 34 of 87 shots, including 8-of-32 on 3-pointers, but the Bulls never got going, either.

    Chicago went 30-for-82, including 3-of-15 from long range. The Bulls suffered their third loss in four games - each by seven points or less.

    "A lot of shots we had were open," said Bulls' forward Michael Sweetney, who had eight points and six rebounds. "We just had an off night."

    Gordon led Chicago with 24 points, and Luol Deng scored 20.

    The Rockets have played well without Yao, who was in Chicago to have his leg examined. The All-Star center attended his first road game since December 23, when he fractured a bone below his knee during a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. Teammates bellowed "Hey Yao!" before the game as he hobbled into the locker room on crutches, his leg in a brace.

    "We're a team that hangs in there," coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "We've been without Yao or McGrady or both since (early December). It hasn't been a situation of woe is me. We've tried to fight and claw, play good and find a way to win on a given night."

    In Oklahoma City, Sam Cassell scored 31 points and Cuttino Mobley finished with 20 to lead the Clippers to the win.

    Playing for the first time in three weeks, Cassell scored 10 points during Los Angeles' decisive 17-3 fourth-quarter surge, including a 3-pointer that gave the Clippers the lead for good at 79-77 with 9:12 to play.

    Desmond Mason led New Orleans with 28 points for the second straight game.

    In Denver, Earl Boykins scored 26 points and Allen Iverson had 23 for the Nuggets. The Bucks were without injured guard Michael Redd and lost his backcourt mate Mo Williams during the game.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily/Agencies)