SALT LAKE CITY, March 28 (Ticker) -- Tracy McGrady's efforts on both ends of the floor got the Houston Rockets back on track.

McGrady scored 22 of his 44 points in the second quarter and tied a season high with five steals to lift the Rockets to a 99-85 triumph over the Utah Jazz.

After scoring a season low in a disappointing 83-70 loss at San Antonio on Sunday, Houston (43-28) rebounded to post its 10th win in 13 games and remain one-half game behind Sacramento for the fifth seed in the Western Conference.

"One of the reasons why we lost (to San Antonio) was because we did a poor job executing on the offensive end, in the fourth quarter when they upped the intensity. Under their pressure, we folded," McGrady said. "Tonight, we just wanted to stay solid. Those guys were being a little physical tonight, and they upped their intensity as well, but we matched that and we stayed poised and executed our offense."

The two-time defending scoring champion, McGrady connected on 8-of-10 shots from the floor in the second period and singlehandedly outscored the Jazz, 22-21, with the second-highest total in a quarter in franchise history.

"Ever since I had that game in Cleveland (scoring 31 points March 24), I've been in a zone ... where I just felt like everything was clicking for me offensively," McGrady added. "My overall game was just there for me. I don't know what sparked that, but I'm to that point right now."

"He had a great game, what can I say? He did it all," Rockets guard David Wesley said. "There's no way to see that coming. You just sit back and watch, get him the ball, and watch him do his thing. He just makes the rest of our jobs easier."

McGrady capped the quarter by scoring nine points in an 11-0 burst to give the Rockets a 56-42 lead.

"McGrady had a terrific game. He got off to an unbelievable start," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "We tried double-teaming him right off the bat and we didn't have much luck. The guy scores 30 points (in the first half) and I don't have anybody fouling out."

Houston led, 66-50, with 7 1/2 minutes to go in the third quarter before Utah went on a 16-2 spurt. Mehmet Okur scored seven of his 25 points during the stretch and rookie Kirk Snyder capped it with a three-point play.

Snyder drove for a layup and drew a foul from Houston center Dikembe Mutombo. Immediately after scoring the bucket, Snyder erupted in emotion right in front of Houston's bench, an act that many Rockets players interpreted as taunting. A visibly upset Jeff Van Gundy was called for a technical foul.

"It was a little disrespectful on (Snyder's) part," McGrady said. "It was a little uncalled for, for him to jump into somebody's face on our bench. But it sparked us a little bit and then we buckled down and closed out the game."

"He was playing very, very well. He makes a terrific move and then he goes and stands in front of their bench," Sloan said. "That's a no-no in this league. We're lucky something crazy didn't happen, because those are the kinds of things that can turn into something serious."

The rookie realized what he had done when Sloan immediately took him out.

"I wasn't taking to anybody, it was more a reaction," Snyder said. "I didn't mean to go over there, I just got pushed out there. I was just a little excited about the play. I was happy that coach Sloan took me out and talked to me a little bit. That was important for me. I'll just take that and move on."

Over the next 9 1/2 minutes, Houston outscored Utah, 21-6, to build an 89-72 lead midway through the final period.

McGrady scored six points and Mike James added four of his 16 off the bench during the Rockets' third surge that all but sealed just the Rockets' second victory at the Delta Center in their last 17 visits.

"It's frustrating," said Utah's Matt Harpring, who scored 18 points. "We thought we had the game in our momentum in the third quarter, and then things happened to get away from us a little bit. When you play a good team, you can't let that happen."