Landry Seals Win for Rox
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- Late Thursday night / early Friday morning, trailing 76 to 70 at the end of the third quarter, the Houston Rockets outscored the Utah Jazz 24 to 16 in the final period and eked out a 94 to 92 road win in Game 3 of the first round of the 2008 NBA Playoffs in Salt Lake City. Utah now leads the series two games to one.
With the game clock winding down and the Rockets holding on to a 93 to 92 lead, Rockets rookie forward Carl Landry blocked a driving off-balance shot attempt by Utah's Deron Williams. Then, Landry saved the ball from going out of bounds and passed the ball to teammate Luis Scola. Scola was fouled with 0.2 seconds left in the game. Scola missed the first free throw; and, though he was trying to make the second attempt, he made it to give the Rockets the 94 to 92 lead.
After a Jazz time out, Utah's desperation inbound pass was picked off by Dikembe Mutombo to seal the Rockets victory.
Utah's offense went into self-destruct mode much of the fourth quarter and the Rockets took advantage.
Tracy McGrady scored seven of his team-high 27 points in a key 10 to 0 run late in the fourth quarter to put the Rockets ahead 93 to 86 with less than two minutes remaining.
Then, the Jazz found some life as Williams passed to Kyle Korver and Korver made a three-point shot to trim the Rockets lead to 93 to 89.
After McGrady was called for an offensive foul, Williams passed the ball to a wide open Mehmet Okur and Okur swished a three-point shot with 37 seconds remaining to trim the Rockets lead to just one point.
After a Rockets time out, McGrady took his time dribbling the ball near half court before dribbling to the right side of the three point line; he jacked up an off-balance jump shot which completely missed the rim and clanged off the backboard. Utah rebounded the missed shot and Williams worked his way up the floor as the game clock was ticking down. Williams missed Carlos Boozer in the paint for a lay up attempt; passed the ball to Korver -- Korver passed the ball back to Williams; and Williams drove toward the basket only to be denied by Landry.
After sitting out the first two games with a sore hamstring, Rafer Alston played his first game of the series; and, his presence clearly had a positive impact on the Rockets. Alston scored 20 points and despite missing to bad three-point shot attempts down the stretch made eight of his 14 field goal attempts. Alston also dished out five assists and helped provide good floor spacing for the Rockets' offense.
Scola added 16 points (4 for 13 from the field) and 10 rebounds. Shane Battier scored 12 points. Landry scored seven points; grabbed 11 rebounds; and blocked two shots including the game clinching blocked shot on Deron Williams.
Williams scored a game-high 28 points. Boozer scored 15 points and pulled down 13 rebounds; however, Boozer missed five of his eight free throw attempts. Okur added 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Jazz missed 13 of 33 from the foul line for a woeful 60.6%.
Game 4 is Saturday night in Utah; but, with the Rockets winning Game 3, there will indeed be a Game 5 back in Houston Tuesday night.
With the game clock winding down and the Rockets holding on to a 93 to 92 lead, Rockets rookie forward Carl Landry blocked a driving off-balance shot attempt by Utah's Deron Williams. Then, Landry saved the ball from going out of bounds and passed the ball to teammate Luis Scola. Scola was fouled with 0.2 seconds left in the game. Scola missed the first free throw; and, though he was trying to make the second attempt, he made it to give the Rockets the 94 to 92 lead.
After a Jazz time out, Utah's desperation inbound pass was picked off by Dikembe Mutombo to seal the Rockets victory.
Utah's offense went into self-destruct mode much of the fourth quarter and the Rockets took advantage.
Tracy McGrady scored seven of his team-high 27 points in a key 10 to 0 run late in the fourth quarter to put the Rockets ahead 93 to 86 with less than two minutes remaining.
Then, the Jazz found some life as Williams passed to Kyle Korver and Korver made a three-point shot to trim the Rockets lead to 93 to 89.
After McGrady was called for an offensive foul, Williams passed the ball to a wide open Mehmet Okur and Okur swished a three-point shot with 37 seconds remaining to trim the Rockets lead to just one point.
After a Rockets time out, McGrady took his time dribbling the ball near half court before dribbling to the right side of the three point line; he jacked up an off-balance jump shot which completely missed the rim and clanged off the backboard. Utah rebounded the missed shot and Williams worked his way up the floor as the game clock was ticking down. Williams missed Carlos Boozer in the paint for a lay up attempt; passed the ball to Korver -- Korver passed the ball back to Williams; and Williams drove toward the basket only to be denied by Landry.
After sitting out the first two games with a sore hamstring, Rafer Alston played his first game of the series; and, his presence clearly had a positive impact on the Rockets. Alston scored 20 points and despite missing to bad three-point shot attempts down the stretch made eight of his 14 field goal attempts. Alston also dished out five assists and helped provide good floor spacing for the Rockets' offense.
Scola added 16 points (4 for 13 from the field) and 10 rebounds. Shane Battier scored 12 points. Landry scored seven points; grabbed 11 rebounds; and blocked two shots including the game clinching blocked shot on Deron Williams.
Williams scored a game-high 28 points. Boozer scored 15 points and pulled down 13 rebounds; however, Boozer missed five of his eight free throw attempts. Okur added 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Jazz missed 13 of 33 from the foul line for a woeful 60.6%.
Game 4 is Saturday night in Utah; but, with the Rockets winning Game 3, there will indeed be a Game 5 back in Houston Tuesday night.
posted by Kris Gardner @ 12:05 AM
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