DALLAS (AP) – With Shaq and Kobe broken up, get ready for the era of Yao and T-Mac. It arrived in Game 2 of the playoffs.

Yao scored 33 points on 13-of-14 shooting – with his only miss arguably being more of a turnover – and McGrady added 28, but it was their spectacular baskets in the final 1:07 that mattered most in Houston’s thrilling 113-111 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night for a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.

The Rockets trailed 102-95 with 5:36 left, but McGrady began a go-ahead run of six straight shots with another of his amazing jumpers. When the Mavericks tied it at 109, the dynamic duo came through again, with McGrady driving to the rim, then slipping the ball to Yao for an easy dunk with 1:06 left.

Dallas tied it again, though, when Dirk Nowitzki – who broke out of his series-long slump midway through the fourth quarter – faked McGrady several times and nailed a jumper from around the free throw line with 10.4 seconds left.

McGrady, however, never hesitated. Not even looking to the bench for a possible timeout, he inbounded the ball, got it back right away and went to the top right of the 3-point line. Setting up behind a Yao screen, he buried a long 2-pointer, then made a sneering gesture as the Mavericks called time.

Given one last chance to salvage a split at home, Dallas failed when Michael Finley missed a decent look from near the top of the key.

The series moves to Houston for Game 3 on Thursday night. The Rockets will be carrying a nine-game winning streak, while the Mavs will be reeling from their first consecutive losses under coach Avery Johnson. They came into the playoffs 16-2 in his first five weeks since replacing Don Nelson and now have that many losses in three days.

AP-ES-04-26-05 0044EDT