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I Did Not Know That.... The Rockets and Jazz combined to shoot 35 percent in the first meeting between the two teams this season.

Carmine Pirone-Rockets.com

The Rockets return to Toyota Center Saturday when they play host to the Utah Jazz. Houston (19-30) will look to rebound from an 89-78 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at home Wednesday. Utah (24-25) plays the Timberwolves at Target Center Friday before heading to Houston.

The Rockets will be in search of their fifth win in six tries Saturday and will be hosting a team playing a road back-to-back for the second time this week as the Lakers lost to the Mavericks in Dallas before defeating Houston Wednesday.

Saturday will mark the second of three meetings between these two teams this season. Utah defeated Houston 82-74, Dec. 27 at Toyota Center. The Rockets led that game 41-36 at halftime, but got outscored 46-33 in the second half to fall to the Jazz. The Rockets were without Yao Ming and Rafer Alston in that game as well as Tracy McGrady in the second half. After scoring 21 points in 20 minutes during the first half in December against the Jazz, McGrady was called to be with his fiancée who was in labor with the couple’s second child.

McGrady won’t be leaving at halftime Saturday, and the Jazz just might be the team against whom he can break out of his recent shooting slump. Utah coach Jerry Sloan is notorious for refusing to double-team, and with more room to operate than usual, McGrady might be able to rediscover his shooting touch.

Add Yao and Alston, who is currently playing his best basketball of the season, and the Rockets will have three more weapons in the second half Saturday that they didn’t have during their first go-round with the Jazz.

The defensive rotation that failed Wednesday against L.A.’s Brian Cook will again be tested Saturday against Utah’s Mehmet Okur. Okur dominated the Rockets in December, scoring 20 points, including a 3-4 performance from behind the arc. Okur also hauled in 17 rebounds during the Jazz win, including eight offensive rebounds.

The Rockets will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak at Toyota Center against the Jazz. Tip-off Saturday is 7:30 p.m. and the game can be seen on FSN Houston.

Saturday’s game is a McDonald’s Family Pack Night. Family Packs start at $69 and include four tickets, four hot dogs, four sodas, two kids’ prizes and a special offer from McDonald’s. The game will also feature the Rockets’ annual Lunar New Year celebration, including cultural activities on the concourse, a halftime performance by Chinese acrobat Red Panda and a special gift for fans in attendance.

POSITION BREAKDOWN

(pts./rbs./asts.)

Point Guard: Rafer Alston (11.4/4.2/6.1) has established himself as a viable scoring option over the past week while still running the offense extremely efficiently. Alston is averaging 5.7 assists to every turnover in Houston's last four games, while shooting 13-24 (54 percent) from the field. Milt Palacio (6.4/2/3) has been getting the call lately for the Jazz at point guard. He's started the last four games heading into Utah's game in Minnesota Friday. His point production is up since entering the starting lineup – he scored 13 points in Utah's win against Chicago at home Monday – but he should do little to slow down Alston, who is in a zone right now shooting and defensively.

Shooting Guard: David Wesley's (10.8/2.7/3.1) minutes have slowly started to creep down in recent weeks as the Rockets have gotten healthy. The addition of Keith Bogans should only help Wesley stay fresh, whenever Bogans can join the lineup. Keith McLeod (6.7/1.6/2.3) will get the call for Utah at the two spot. The Jazz are 17-12 when McLeod starts and 7-13 when he doesn't entering Friday, so there is little reason for Jazz coach Jerry Sloan to take him out of the lineup. McLeod didn't do much in December against the Rockets other than get to the foul line. His 6-6 performance accounted for the bulk of his 10 points in 29 minutes of action.

Small Forward: Tracy McGrady (26.1/7/5) is mired in his worst shooting slump of the season, but things could change Saturday. Utah never likes to double and with more room to operate, McGrady could find his shooting touch. He torched the Jazz for 21 points in 20 minutes in December before being called to his fiancee's side for the birth of their second child. McGrady's performance was especially impressive because it came against one of the league's best defenders at small forward in the person of Andrei Kirilenko (15.8/8.5/4.3). Kirilenko had no answer for McGrady in December and didn't do much offensively himself. Kirilenko netted just 10 points in December against the Rockets, the majority of those coming in the second half with McGrady at the hospital. Still, Kirilenko is one of the league's best and recorded his 17th double-double of the season against the Bulls, which was his sixth in Utah's last eight games.

Power Forward: Juwan Howard (11.2/6.6/1.5) poured in 19 points the first time these two teams met this season. That was overshadowed by a great performance by Utah's Mehmet Okur (17.9/9.3/2.6), who scored 20 points and ripped down 17 rebounds. While the finger can't solely be pointed at Howard for Okur's performance, he still should take it as point of pride not to allow a similar effort from Okur Saturday. Okur can shoot from anywhere and if left open can produce from behind the arc. Okur was 4-5 from distance against the Rockets in December.

Center: Yao Ming (19.8/9.4/1.3) struggled offensively Wednesday, showing some signs of fatigue after playing over 40 minutes in Philadelphia on Monday. With two days of rest under his belt, Yao should be at full strength against Utah's Jarron Collins (6.7/1.6/2.3). Collins was extremely efficient in the first game these two teams played this year as he went 4-5 from the field, scoring 15 points in just 21 minutes of action. Don't look for a repeat performance from Collins Saturday as Yao won't allow Collins to so easily establish himself in the post. Collins did pull just two rebounds in December, a reason why he doesn't see more playing time than the 24 minutes a game he is averaging this season.