McGrady fuels Rockets

HOUSTON — Tracy McGrady was not going to endure another first-round meltdown without a fight.

He refused to be denied in Game 6, and now he'll have one more chance to advance in the playoffs for the first time in his career.

Playing with the desperation of a man on the brink of elimination, McGrady had 37 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to help the Houston Rockets avoid a first-round exit with a 101-83 victory over Dallas on Thursday night.

The series is now tied 3-3, with Game 7 in Dallas on Saturday. The winner will face top-seeded Phoenix in the Western Conference semifinals.

Mike James came off the bench for 22 points and Jon Barry scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter for the Rockets, who have been bounced in the opening round in their last three playoff appearances. Houston last won a series in 1997, when the lineup featured Hakeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler and Charles Barkley.

Jerry Stackhouse led Dallas with 21 points, and Dirk Nowitzki scored 19 on only 5-of-22 shooting as he continued his series-long struggles against McGrady's defense.

Rockets fans who were disappointed by blown fourth-quarter leads in the last two home games, including a 20-0 run by Dallas in Game 3, were treated to an improbably dominant finish in this one.

McGrady scored eight straight points, including two 3s, during a 19-0 spurt that turned a close game into a rout and gave Houston a 101-80 lead. Dallas could not stop McGrady with double teams, rough play or simply allowing him to fire away from outside.

The Mavericks couldn't even counter with their highly touted offense. Dallas shot 4-for-27 in the final period, watching shot after shot bounce off the rim as the Rockets pulled away down the stretch.

McGrady, who has never advanced past the first round in his eight-year career, came through in the clutch to avoid watching his team blow a two-game lead for the second straight time. It also happened when he played for Orlando against Detroit in 2003.

Back then, he never had this kind of help: an All-Star big man in Yao Ming, a bench teeming with driven veterans, and a coach who once led an eighth-seeded team to the NBA Finals.

After drawing a $100,000 fine — the largest ever assessed against a coach — for accusing officials of targeting Yao this postseason, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy was greeted by loud cheers during pregame introductions.

That didn't stop Van Gundy from giving officials a mouthful after a hard foul on Yao midway through the second quarter that sent the 7-foot-6 center tumbling to the floor. Yao scrambled to his feet and stared down at Dallas' Josh Howard — a rare show of anger from the gentle giant — but was quickly escorted away by teammates.

That foul seemed to wake up the Rockets.