Houston ? Tracy McGrady was racing down the court with the ball, his eyes focused squarely on the basket and the fate of the game in his hands.

No way he was going to settle for a tie and overtime. McGrady was thinking about making a game-winning three-pointer.

“I wanted to take my chances,” McGrady said. “At that point, I felt anything I threw up was going to go in. The rim felt really, really big.”

So McGrady let fly with a running three with 1.7 seconds left, capping a one-man rally in the final minute to send the Houston Rockets to an improbable 81-80 win over San Antonio on Thursday night.

McGrady scored 13 points in the final 35 seconds, including four difficult threes, to finish with 33 points, eight rebounds and five steals in a terrific clutch performance

With just over a minute left in what seemed to be another ugly home loss, the Rockets were being roundly booed following Bob Sura’s airball on a three-point attempt with Houston trailing, 74-64.

Sonics 107, Mavs 102

Dallas — Rashard Lewis erased a fourth-quarter deficit then protected the lead with a high-flying baseline dunk, a three-pointer as the shot clock expired and two free throws.

Blazers 89, Celtics 87

Portland, Ore. — Shareef Abdur-Rahim hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer, lifting Portland. Boston’s Paul Pierce, suffering from flu symptoms, played but was ineffective, finishing with six points.