McGrady’s 41 Carry the Rockets

Houston Rocket Coach Jeff Van Gundy has no idea why Tracy McGrady is so tough on the road.

McGrady scored 41 points, including 14 straight in the fourth quarter, to lead the Rockets to a 97-80 victory over the Bucks on Monday night at Milwaukee.

He is averaging 30.7 points in 18 road games -- including 38.0 in the last seven -- and 19.1 points in nine at home.

“You can’t explain it,” Van Gundy said after his team improved to 11-13 away from Houston, where it is 3-13. “He’s the best road player in the league.”

The Bucks trailed, 76-75, after Andrew Bogut’s basket with 10:58 left in the fourth quarter when McGrady went on his personal run.

McGrady made a pair of three-point baskets, a driving 10-footer, a turnaround fadeaway and two jump shots to give the Rockets a 90-75 lead with 5:21 left.

“I’m just in a nice rhythm right now,” McGrady said. “I’m playing with a great deal of confidence.”

Milwaukee missed 17 consecutive shots during and after McGrady’s run. McGrady finished the fourth with 18 points, compared with nine for the Bucks, one more than their franchise record for fewest in a quarter.

Michael Redd scored 21 for Milwaukee.

Denver 107, Toronto 101 -- Still smarting from Kobe Bryant’s 81 points the night before, the Raptors allowed Carmelo Anthony to score 37 at Denver to lead the Nuggets to their sixth straight victory.

Anthony made 13 of 16 shots and 10 of 12 free throws to help the Nuggets improve to 10-2 in January.

Mike James scored 22 for Toronto.

Atlanta 104, Indiana 94 -- Joe Johnson had 28 points at Atlanta to help the Hawks rally to victory.

The Hawks trailed, 56-48, at halftime, and the Pacers twice stretched the lead to 11 in the opening minutes of the third quarter. But Atlanta, coming off two straight blowout losses at home, surged in front with a 16-5 run before the period ended. Atlanta secured the win by scoring 13 of the game’s final 15 points.

The Hawks shot 56% (40 for 72).

Jermaine O’Neal led the Pacers with 24 points.

Utah 89, New Jersey 78 -- Andrei Kirilenko had 21 points and 13 rebounds at Salt Lake City to help the Jazz overcome Jason Kidd’s 17 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.

Kidd, however, missed 12 of his 15 field-goal attempts, and was 10 of 11 from the free-throw line. Vince Carter, suffering some back pain, had only five points on two-for-14 shooting for the Nets, who shot 33% overall and made only two of 21 three-pointers.

Boston 91, New Orleans 78 -- Ricky Davis scored 17 of his 32 points in the third quarter to lead the Celtics at Boston.

Behind the shooting of Raef LaFrentz (18 points), the Celtics used a 17-7 run to take a 63-51 lead midway into the third quarter. LaFrentz made three three-pointers in a 2:56 span and closed the surge with another jump shot.

Davis took over from there, scoring 11 points to spark a 15-2 run that closed the quarter and iced the game.

David West led the Hornets with 21 points.