Rockets vs Jazz According to the SLTrib and Houston Chronicle

http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_7345986

McGrady ruins Jazz home opener
By Ross Siler
The Salt Lake Tribune

Posted: 9:56 PM- Whatever good feelings the Jazz had after a fabulous opening night in Golden State vanished quickly. Whatever haunting memories Tracy McGrady had after last season's first-round playoff exit were forgotten for one night.

The Jazz fizzled after a fast start in their home opener Thursday night at EnergySolutions Arena and McGrady got a measure of payback with a 47-point spectacular in Houston's 106-95 victory

McGrady had 26 points by halftime, 36 through three quarters and 13 in the fourth. He hit 17 of 27 shots in a performance that would have sent the Jazz home early had it occurred back in early May.

Carlos Boozer led the Jazz with 30 points and Deron Williams added 18 but the Jazz made just 7 of 20 shots in the third quarter and couldn't dig out from a 12-point hole to start the fourth.

McGrady had 41 points with 5 minutes left when the Jazz started all-out trapping to force the ball out of his hands. They three times closed within five points only to watch as Yao Ming flipped in a hook and McGrady got free for a 19-footer.

Trailing by 10 early in the third quarter, the Jazz scored eight unanswered points to close to 59-57. Ronnie Brewer capped the run by stripping Yao, then flipping a pass ahead to Williams for a breakaway dunk.

The rest of the quarter, however, was all downhill for the Jazz.
Rafer Alston knocked down a three-pointer, followed by a long jumper, and Yao finally got going after making just 1 of 7 shots to start. The Rockets outscored the Jazz 19-9 the rest of the quarter.

As a result, Houston took a 78-66 lead into the fourth. This time, the Rockets were able to put away the Jazz, something they weren't able to do after taking a 3-2 lead in the first round of the playoffs.

McGrady made sure of it, hitting two big jumpers in the fourth quarter. He knocked down a 19-footer over Andrei Kirilenko after the Jazz closed to 82-72 and later buried an open three-pointer after Utah made it a seven-point game.

The Jazz dropped 28,000 balloons and detonated an untold number of fireworks during player introductions. They raced to a 10-point lead in the first 4:14 that saw all five starters score. It hardly mattered as McGrady reeled the game back in for Houston.

For all the pregame talk about how Ronnie Brewer would play McGrady, how he would make the Rockets star work before and after catching the ball, there was little Brewer could do as McGrady scored 13 points and hit 6 of 8 shots in the first quarter.

He attacked for layups and drained jumpers. When Brewer overplayed and went for a steal, McGrady made him pay by burying a three-pointer. McGrady single-handedly kept the Rockets in the game for the first 12 minutes.

McGrady went to the bench to start the second quarter and the Rockets pushed into the lead even after Yao Ming went to the bench with his third personal. Once he returned with 5:57 left, McGrady scored seven quick points and had another 13 for the quarter.

The Jazz tried to disrupt McGrady with Kirilenko to no avail. Even as Kirilenko blocked his shot, McGrady recovered and drove for a layup. McGrady hit a 22-footer over Kirilenko and sent him to the bench with his third foul a minute before halftime.

For the half, McGrady scored 26 of the Rockets' 57 points and hit 10 of 16 shots, summoning unpleasant memories for the Jazz of all the 50-point games they surrendered to opposing guards last season.

 

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5266730.html

Nov. 1, 2007, 11:20PM
T-Mac gets 47 as Rockets hold off Jazz

By JONATHAN FEIGEN

SALT LAKE CITY — Had the haunting echo in the Rockets' ears had finally left them, the roar in the EnergySolutions Arena began again.

They were back in Salt Lake City on Thursday night, back in front in the fourth quarter, back trying to hold off the sort of Jazz run that had routed them in three playoff games last spring and ultimately ran them from the postseason in another first round.

The night was not yet their recurring nightmare, but it seemed headed that way. Then Tracy McGrady raised up for a fadeaway jumper, nailed it and pressed his forefinger to his lips to silence the crowd as he never could six months ago.

With McGrady scoring 47 points, on 17-of-27 shooting, the Rockets got the win they could not in last season's playoffs, beating the Jazz 106-95, to start the season with two road wins for the first time since 1978.

Yao Ming, trapped in foul trouble in the first half and unable to find his shot in the second, made just 5 of 14 attempts, scoring just 11 points with seven rebounds. But he hit his last two shots when the Rockets finished off the win in the building where the Rockets had lost 16 of 18 game, 19 of 21 when including last season's three playoff games.

Carlos Boozer led the Jazz with 30 points and 16 rebounds.

The Rockets had held off each Jazz move, but heading down the stretch, the Jazz made another charge, scoring on four consecutive possessions to close to within 96-91 heading into the last four minutes.

McGrady drove to draw an Andrei Kirilenko foul and hit both free throws, giving him 45 points and breaking his own Rockets scoring record )of 44 points) against the Jazz.

After Shane Battier stole a Mehmet Okur pass, Yao finished a left-handed drive. McGrady added two free throws. Chuck Hayes drew a Carlos Boozer charge with 90 seconds remaining. And with the Rockets leading by nine, the demons of their post-season collapse were, if not avenged, no longer haunting them.

As they had so reliably in last spring's playoff series, the Jazz hit the Rockets with a third-quarter run and a test of their mettle. They had drawn to within two with an 8-0 run and seemed to wait for the second-half Rockets' slump that had come in each of the three games in Salt Lake City.

But Deron Williams missed a 3 for the lead, and the Rockets answered. In the six minutes after the run, the Jazz made just 1 of 8 shots, the Rockets outscored them 14-4, making 6 of 9 attempts, and the Rockets took their cushion back to the 12-point lead they would take into the fourth quarter.

As they had Tuesday in Los Angeles, the Rockets got off to a horrendous start and fell into a 12-point hole. But this time, rather than an atrocious offensive start, it was their defense that caused the problems.

The offense did not start well, either. But beginning with the opening tip, the Rockets started the game giving up layups and dunks. By the time Yao had his second foul and an early seat, the Jazz had hit 8 of 11 shots and led, 20-8.

But McGrady kept the Rockets afloat long enough for the Rockets to get another second-quarter lift off the bench and for the defense to tighten around the usual Jazz cuts to the basket. The Rockets took an 18-3 run to their first lead early in the second quarter and did not trail again the rest of the half.

After making 10 of 18 shots in the first quarter, the Jazz made just 6 of 19 in the second, finding the resistance in the lane that had been nonexistent to start the game.

Though Yao picked up his third foul on a moving screen just 1:21 after returning to the floor, McGrady continued to score easily, with his drive to a slam 2:15 before halftime giving the Rockets their largest lead, nine points, of the half.

They led 57-49 at halftime, but with so much about their return to Salt Lake City bringing inescapable reminders of last spring's playoff failures, the Rockets knew better than most how fragile a lead against the Jazz can be.