Analysis: Banged up Jazz, Rockets finding ways to survive

HOUSTON -- The Jazz left three big men back in Salt Lake City. The Rockets left their catalyst in the locker room.

Some games just look better on the schedule.

Utah and Houston renewed a chippy rivalry for the first time since the playoffs Saturday night ... minus a few recognizable faces. They were missed.

So it's not fair to take too much from what turned out to be a tightly-contested Western Conference affair because of who wasn't there. The Jazz were sans Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur and Paul Millsap -- the team's top three scorers. Tracy McGrady, dealing with knee issues once again, missed his eighth game of the season for Houston.

For much of the night, it appeared the healthier of two unhealthy road-weary squads (Houston) would cruise to an easy win. Sixteen-point leads tend to offer a clue. Then again, Jerry Sloan-coached teams don't exactly roll over.

The Jazz rallied in the fourth quarter behind Ronnie Brewer, Deron Williams and Kyle Korver to send a would-be loss into overtime. The first extra period didn't decide a thing, but late arrival Ron Artest proved the difference in double OT.

While not exactly revenge for the first-round ouster last season (or the year before), Houston finally closed out a 120-115 triumph after 58 minutes of basketball.

"Our guys stuck with it and made some plays," a relieved Rick Adelman said.

The Rockets coach half-joked that he defied doctors' orders by playing Yao Ming, Shane Battier and Artest extended minutes. "Don't blame me," Adelman quipped, referring to the two overtimes. Adelman, though, isn't sure what he has to work with from one night to the next.

Artest missed Friday's loss at New Orleans with a sore ankle and didn't declare himself ready until right before tip-off. Artest ended up logging 40 1/2 minutes and overpowered the Jazz for 10 of his 28 points in the second OT.

"He just said he wanted to play," Adelman said. "Thank goodness he did. He certainly helped."

Artest actually defied his better judgment to suit up.

"Sometimes you have to rest and sometimes the adrenaline is flowing," he said. "I thought it would have been smarter if I had taken this game off, but Mac wasn't playing and we were in need of desperate need of multiple victories."

It must have felt like two wins. Houston (20-11) kept pace with San Antonio and New Orleans, as the three are jumbled atop the Southwest Division. Utah (18-14) has dropped three of four, which in the equally-bunched up West is enough of a slump to fall into a virtual tie with Phoenix for eighth in the conference.

Despite being squarely in the playoff hunt, the season for both Utah and Houston feels like a series of fits and starts. In addition to the 28 games missed by Boozer and Okur, Williams still hasn't found his stride. Yao and Carl Landry are the only Rocket regulars to play in all 31 games.

"Usually at this point of the season teams are figuring out the nuances of being an elite team," Houston veteran Brent Barry said. "We still haven't been able to do that."

Sloan can sympathize. It's just that the no-nonsense Jazz coach isn't one for excuses. Injuries are part of the game.

"You never know what will come up," Sloan said. "I don't look at that stuff. I just worry about each day and see what happens, because injuries can take you out of it. We're just fighting for our life trying to hang in there."

Sloan has thrown a pair of kids into the frontcourt mix while he waits for reinforcements. Millsap had done a bang-up job in place of Boozer before spraining his knee Tuesday. Kosta Koufos, a rookie from Ohio State via Greece, has been starting at center, while second-year center Kyrylo Fesenko of the Ukraine has gone from inactive to the first off the bench.

Those two combined for 26 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks. The Jazz had seven in double figures, including the starting five, against Houston. Brewer scored 23, Andrei Kirilenko 20 and Williams dished out 11 assists to go with 14 points.

The Rockets also had all five starters total at least 10 points, with Artest and Aaron Brooks doing the same off the bench. Houston won despite shooting 39 percent. A 32-12 edge in made free throws, including 15-1 in the second OT, was huge.

So the Rockets and Jazz forge on. Neither expects to be able to just turn it on if and when their rosters are whole. Chemistry can't just be activated off the injured list.

Sloan just wants to stay in the hunt. Adelman, no doubt, feels the same way.

"We've won some games and are not totally out of it," Sloan said. "We've lost some games we thought we should have won, as everybody does. You just have to move on and do the best you can."