Rockets Beat Jazz in Game 1
Pretty it was not.
The Houston Rockets defeated the Utah Jazz 84 to 75 Saturday night to win game 1 of their Western Conference First Round match-up. Neither team shot 40 percent for the ball game. Houston's Big Two, Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, combined for 51 points while Utah's Big Two, forward Carlos Boozer and center Mehmet Okur, combined for just 17 points. Booker and Okur made just six of their 31 field goal attempts including a woeful 1 for 14 in the second half.
Tracy McGrady scored 23 points -- 22 in the second half. McGrady missed all six of his field goal attempts in the first half. Yao Ming scored a game-high 28 points and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
Houston led Utah 20 to 19 at the end of the first quarter after forward Juwan Howard made a jump shot as the game clock expired.
The Jazz owned the second quarter and outscored the Rockets 23 to 13. The Rockets made just two out of 13 shots while the Jazz shot 45.8% (11 for 24) in the period. The Jazz dominated the rebounding as well with 15 boards compared to just seven for the Rockets. Utah finished the first half out rebounding the Rockets 27 to 20.
The third quarter was a completely different story. Houston played lock down defense and limited the Jazz to a frigid 4 for 22 from the field and zero assists! McGrady made his first shot of the quarter, a 20-foot jumper, to end his drought from the field. Then, Rafer Alston dished to McGrady for an assist. McGrady caught fire and made five more baskets in the quarter. He scored 16 points during the third period and outscored the Jazz by himself: 16 to 11.
"I told myself at halftime to calm down," said McGrady after the game. "I had to take a couple of deep breaths and gather myself together because I was on a high. Even before the game, coming to the arena, I'm sitting in the car and my palms were sweating and I just calmed myself down the 2nd half. Coming out of third quarter I was more relaxed and just more relaxed on my offense and on my jumpers."
The turning point of the quarter occurred during a 10 second span late in the period. While clinging to a one point lead (53 to 52), Utah's Mehmet Okur picked up a steal from a bad pass by McGrady; Okur passed the ball ahead to guard Derek Fisher; Fisher led a four-on-one fast break; instead of passing to a teammate; Fished missed his lay-up attempt; and Okur missed the putback. Rafer Alston rebounded the missed shot and passed the ball to a wide open Yao Ming. (Yao Ming was open because he never crossed half court.) Once he caught the pass, Yao slammed the ball home to give the Rockets a 54 to 53 lead which put the Rockets ahead for the first time in the ball game since leading 20 to 19 to start the second quarter.
Utah didn't score any more points in the third quarter. The Rockets outscored the Jazz 26 to 11 during the period and took a 59 to 53 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Jazz pulled within two points of the Rockets four times early in the fourth period; however, with 8:41 left in the ball game, the Rockets went on a 15 to 3 run to stretch their lead to 14 points (80 to 66) with 3:34 left in the game. Alston, Luther Head and McGrady each knocked down three-point shots during the decisive run.
Both teams went scoreless for 94 seconds until Harpring ended the drought with a 14-foot jump shot with two minutes left in the game. Alston, McGrady, and Head missed jump shots; but, the Rockets rebounded each missed shot which ultimately resulted in a loose ball foul called on Utah's Matt Harpring. After a turnover by Juwan Howard, Derek Fisher hit a three-point shot to trim Houston's lead to nine (80 to 71) with 1:08 left. Yao Ming missed a 10-foot jump shot and Fisher drained another three-point jump shot with just 32.2 seconds remaining. Instead of fouling the Rockets quickly, the Jazz allowed 17 seconds to run off the clock before fouling Tracy McGrady with 15.3 seconds in the game. McGrady split the two free throws to give the Rockets a 81 to 74 lead.
Deron Williams, Jazz point guard, split two free throws to close out the scoring for Utah with 8.7 seconds to go. Yao Ming hit two free throws and Luther Head split two attempts for the final points score by the Rockets.
The Rockets out rebounded the Jazz 26 to 21 in the second half.
Williams finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Including the four games of the regular season, Williams is averaging 8.4 assists in five total games against the Rockets this season.
"We played a good game for the most part but didn't hit shots down the stretch," Williams said after the game. "We can play a lot better and we know we can beat them."
Rafer Alston finished the game with nine points, a career-high 11 rebounds, and 8 assists.
Houston held Utah to its lowest point total in the all-time playoff annals between these two clubs. The previous low was in an 80-78 win by the Rockets at Utah (5/29/94).
The Houston Rockets defeated the Utah Jazz 84 to 75 Saturday night to win game 1 of their Western Conference First Round match-up. Neither team shot 40 percent for the ball game. Houston's Big Two, Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, combined for 51 points while Utah's Big Two, forward Carlos Boozer and center Mehmet Okur, combined for just 17 points. Booker and Okur made just six of their 31 field goal attempts including a woeful 1 for 14 in the second half.
Tracy McGrady scored 23 points -- 22 in the second half. McGrady missed all six of his field goal attempts in the first half. Yao Ming scored a game-high 28 points and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.
Houston led Utah 20 to 19 at the end of the first quarter after forward Juwan Howard made a jump shot as the game clock expired.
The Jazz owned the second quarter and outscored the Rockets 23 to 13. The Rockets made just two out of 13 shots while the Jazz shot 45.8% (11 for 24) in the period. The Jazz dominated the rebounding as well with 15 boards compared to just seven for the Rockets. Utah finished the first half out rebounding the Rockets 27 to 20.
The third quarter was a completely different story. Houston played lock down defense and limited the Jazz to a frigid 4 for 22 from the field and zero assists! McGrady made his first shot of the quarter, a 20-foot jumper, to end his drought from the field. Then, Rafer Alston dished to McGrady for an assist. McGrady caught fire and made five more baskets in the quarter. He scored 16 points during the third period and outscored the Jazz by himself: 16 to 11.
"I told myself at halftime to calm down," said McGrady after the game. "I had to take a couple of deep breaths and gather myself together because I was on a high. Even before the game, coming to the arena, I'm sitting in the car and my palms were sweating and I just calmed myself down the 2nd half. Coming out of third quarter I was more relaxed and just more relaxed on my offense and on my jumpers."
The turning point of the quarter occurred during a 10 second span late in the period. While clinging to a one point lead (53 to 52), Utah's Mehmet Okur picked up a steal from a bad pass by McGrady; Okur passed the ball ahead to guard Derek Fisher; Fisher led a four-on-one fast break; instead of passing to a teammate; Fished missed his lay-up attempt; and Okur missed the putback. Rafer Alston rebounded the missed shot and passed the ball to a wide open Yao Ming. (Yao Ming was open because he never crossed half court.) Once he caught the pass, Yao slammed the ball home to give the Rockets a 54 to 53 lead which put the Rockets ahead for the first time in the ball game since leading 20 to 19 to start the second quarter.
Utah didn't score any more points in the third quarter. The Rockets outscored the Jazz 26 to 11 during the period and took a 59 to 53 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Jazz pulled within two points of the Rockets four times early in the fourth period; however, with 8:41 left in the ball game, the Rockets went on a 15 to 3 run to stretch their lead to 14 points (80 to 66) with 3:34 left in the game. Alston, Luther Head and McGrady each knocked down three-point shots during the decisive run.
Both teams went scoreless for 94 seconds until Harpring ended the drought with a 14-foot jump shot with two minutes left in the game. Alston, McGrady, and Head missed jump shots; but, the Rockets rebounded each missed shot which ultimately resulted in a loose ball foul called on Utah's Matt Harpring. After a turnover by Juwan Howard, Derek Fisher hit a three-point shot to trim Houston's lead to nine (80 to 71) with 1:08 left. Yao Ming missed a 10-foot jump shot and Fisher drained another three-point jump shot with just 32.2 seconds remaining. Instead of fouling the Rockets quickly, the Jazz allowed 17 seconds to run off the clock before fouling Tracy McGrady with 15.3 seconds in the game. McGrady split the two free throws to give the Rockets a 81 to 74 lead.
Deron Williams, Jazz point guard, split two free throws to close out the scoring for Utah with 8.7 seconds to go. Yao Ming hit two free throws and Luther Head split two attempts for the final points score by the Rockets.
The Rockets out rebounded the Jazz 26 to 21 in the second half.
Williams finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Including the four games of the regular season, Williams is averaging 8.4 assists in five total games against the Rockets this season.
"We played a good game for the most part but didn't hit shots down the stretch," Williams said after the game. "We can play a lot better and we know we can beat them."
Rafer Alston finished the game with nine points, a career-high 11 rebounds, and 8 assists.
Houston held Utah to its lowest point total in the all-time playoff annals between these two clubs. The previous low was in an 80-78 win by the Rockets at Utah (5/29/94).
posted by Kris G @ 11:43 PM
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