CHICAGO - Tracy McGrady maintained his torrid shooting streak with 31 points to help the Houston Rockets beat the Chicago Bulls 84-77 on Monday.

Houston Rockets forward Tracy McGrady pumps his fist after grabbing a rebound in the closing seconds of their NBA basketball game against the Chicago Bulls in Chicago January 8, 2007. [Reuters]

McGrady hit a long jumper with 1:19 left to break a 77-77 tie and the Rockets shut the Bulls down the rest of the way to win for the sixth time in eight games since Yao Ming broke a bone in his knee in late December.

After making just three of his 10 shots in the first half, McGrady caught fire in the second half to reach the 30-point plateau for the fifth time in his last six.

Yao traveled to Chicago to have his leg examined and was on the sidelines for the game. It is still not known when he will be able to return.

McGrady wound up shooting 14-for-29 from the field after a slow start as the Rockets rallied from a 40-30 halftime deficit.

Houston out-scored Chicago 24-11 in the third quarter to take control and won despite getting to the foul line just 11 times and shooting 39 percent from the field.

Juwan Howard added 16 points and had nine rebounds for the Rockets, while Dikembe Mutombo pulled down a season-high 16 rebounds.

Ben Gordon scored 24 points to lead the Bulls, but Chicago shot just 37 percent and made only three of 15 attempts from three-point range. Luol Deng added 20 points for the Bulls and Andres Nocioni had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

* Sam Cassell returned to the lineup to score 31 points as the Los Angeles Clippers won 100-90 over the New Orleans Hornets.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Milwaukee Bucks 104-92, with Allen Iverson chipping in 23 points for his new team.