McGrady closes strongly to help hold off the Bulls

Tracy McGrady was tired, tight, and couldn’t shake his defender. He was feeling much better by the time the fourth quarter started.

“I knew I was going to take over,” McGrady said.

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

“I couldn’t seem to get going, physically,” McGrady said.

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

McGrady made 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 made one of two free throws to make it a three-point game and Chuck Hayes and Luther Head added two foul shots apiece.

It was the sixth straight 30-point performance for McGrady, who made only three of 10 shots in the first half and scored 25 in the final two periods.

“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.

Gordon led Chicago with 24 points.

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Denver 104, Milwaukee 92 -- Earl Boykins scored 26 points and Allen Iverson added 23 at Denver to help the Nuggets end a five-game losing streak by beating the depleted Bucks.

The Bucks, already without Michael Redd (knee), lost his backcourt mate Mo Williams to a sprained left shoulder right before halftime.

Ruben Patterson, a former Nugget, started in Redd’s spot and scored 29 points, three shy of his career high.

The Bucks, who couldn’t get closer than five points after trailing by 11 at halftime, also were without forward Charlie Villanueva (shoulder).