NBA PLAYOFFS : Rockets Still Know How to Survive : Western Conference: Elie’s shot beats Suns, 115-114, and completes comeback from 3-1 deficit.

Destiny’s darlings have a new steady.

It is, of all people, Mario Elie, before Saturday afternoon a seventh man but now part of lore. Figure it’ll be about two months before he pays for a meal in Houston.

The Rockets, facing elimination for the fifth time this postseason and the eighth in the last two, turned not to Hakeem Olajuwon or Clyde Drexler for the life preserver, but Elie. He responded by swishing a baseline three-pointer with 7.1 seconds left that broke a 110-110 tie and propelled them to a 115-114 victory over the Phoenix Suns in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals.

The winner and still champions.

“Everybody counted us out,” Elie said. “Phoenix was going to beat us in six. Utah was going to beat us in four. Both both of those teams, they’re going to be watching us.”

Yes, watching them in the Western Conference finals, which begin Monday at San Antonio. The Suns blew series leads of 2-0 and 3-1, only to have the Rockets win three in a row, two in Arizona. The Jazz had a 2-1 advantage in the first round and then lost the next two, including Game 5 at Salt Lake City.

Maybe they can find comfort in the fact that it has become a growing list. The Rockets have, after all, won eight in a row when facing elimination and are 10-1 in those games since Rudy Tomjanovich became coach. Phoenix has the pleasure of being on the list twice, having wasted 2-0 leads both times.

Only the circumstances change. This time, before a stunned 19,023 at America West Arena, the Rockets became only the fifth team in NBA history to come back from a 3-1 deficit and the first since Boston in the 1981 Eastern Conference finals. Moreover, they became only the 12th team to win a Game 7 on the road and the first since Philadelphia emerged from Boston Garden in the ’82 East finals.

Fittingly, they did it the hard way, falling behind by 14 points in the first quarter and 15 in the second before rallying in the third behind Sam Cassell. It came just as Olajuwon went to the bench with his fourth foul.

That gave the Rockets an 81-79 lead heading into the fourth. Neither team pulled ahead by more than five points the rest of the way, and it was 110-110 when Kevin Johnson, en route to a career-high 46 points, missed his only free throw of the day in 22 tries with 21.6 seconds left.

The Rockets called time. They wanted to run a play for Drexler, having a big game with 29 points, but tight defense prevented that option. With about 10 seconds left, Elie controlled the ball and the future. He was alone on the baseline, steps away from his own bench.

“One of my favorite spots,” he said.

No defender was near. Finally, Dan Schayes, sticking with Olajuwon on the post as long as possible, ran at Elie with a hand up.

“I wasn’t very excited when I saw him wide open, measuring his steps and taking time to get his feet set,” Sun forward A.C. Green said. “I’m just like, oh, no.”

Oh, yes.

‘I don’t think I hesitated,” Elie said. “I just let it go.”

It only seemed like slow motion.

“One of those things that seems to take 30 years to leave his hands and come down,” Green said. “I’m just looking at the net to see if it moves.”

It moved.

“Players like myself who don’t get a lot of publicity,” Elie said, “dream about this.”

Suddenly down, 113-100, with 7.1 seconds left, the Suns called time out and went in search of a miracle. The Rockets, not wanting to allow a three-point shot, instead intentionally fouled Dan Majerle with 4.7 seconds remaining to concede the two points.

Majerle made both. The Suns fouled Drexler with 3.5 seconds to play to stop the clock, and he made both for a 115-112 lead. The Rockets used their same strategy, this time grabbing Danny Ainge with 2.1 showing before he could get off a three-point shot, Ainge converting his tries from the line for the final margin.

That was the end for Phoenix. And only the start for Houston, again.

“This is a destiny, where you can see it coming again, where the majority of things are going the other way,” said Olajuwon, who had 29 points and 11 rebounds. “Then reality sets in, and we’re still here. We’re still the champs.”

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No Small Feat

Houston’s rally to win its Western Conference semifinal series against Phoenix was a rare accomplishment on two fronts:

COMEBACKS AFTER TRAILING 3 GAMES TO 1

Team Year Round Houston (vs. Phoenix) 1995 Western semifinals Boston (vs. Philadelphia) 1981 Eastern finals Washington (vs. San Antonio) 1979 Eastern finals Lakers (vs. Phoenix) 1970 Western semifinals Boston (vs. Philadelphia) 1968 Eastern finals

WINNING GAME 7 ON THE ROAD

Team Year Round Houston (at Phoenix) 1995 Western semifinals Philadelphia (at Boston) 1982 Eastern finals Kansas City (at Phoenix) 1981 Western semifinals Houston (at San Antonio) 1981 Western semifinals Washington (at Seattle) 1978 NBA finals Phoenix (at Golden State) 1976 Western finals Boston (at Milwaukee) 1974 NBA finals New York (at Boston) 1973 Eastern finals Baltimore (at New York) 1971 Eastern finals Boston (at Lakers) 1969 NBA finals Boston (at Philadelphia) 1968 Eastern finals Philadelphia (at St. Louis) 1948 semifinals