Wednesday April 30, 2008 0:45 AM


Rockets rip Jazz to remain alive in postseason


Game 5: Houston 95, Utah 69

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Damien Pierce
Rockets.com Staff Writer
HOUSTON -- Tracy McGrady insisted that the Rockets needed to send a message to the Utah Jazz.

How was that for a delivery?

With a dominating defensive performance and a big night from McGrady, the Rockets rolled over the Jazz for a convincing 95-69 victory Tuesday night in Game 5 of the first-round playoff series at Toyota Center.

McGrady canned 29 points to lead Houston's best offensive showing of the postseason and the Rockets were even better on the other end of the floor. Utah, shooting a mere 36.5 percent, failed to break the 70-point mark, setting Houston's franchise-record low for points by an opponent in the playoffs.

The Rockets are still trailing 3-2 as the best-of-seven series shifts to Salt Lake City for Game 6.

But with the lopsided win, the Rockets feel like they're right back in the series.

"I'm just worried about Game 6," McGrady said. "That's the most important game. Game 6. We've put ourselves in a great situation. It doesn't even feel like we're down 3-2. We're in a great situation. We know we can win in Utah because we've done it before."

The Rockets will be riding their best all-around effort of the series into Utah.

Though the Rockets' D has been solid throughout the series, Houston took it to another level on Tuesday night.

Besides limiting them to a franchise-record low on the scoreboard, the Rockets limited Utah to 36.4 percent shooting. Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams, in particular, had a rough evening. Boozer had a team-high 19 points, but made only 8-of-18 shots. Williams, meanwhile, had only 13 points and six assists.

Not bad considering that the Jazz had one of the NBA's highest scoring offenses coming into the series.

"We forced them to commit 18 turnovers and that's impressive for their team that takes care of the basketball," Rockets point guard Rafer Alston said. "They're a team that can score the ball and they were averaging around 100 points down the stretch of the season. For us to do this kind of job on them tonight says a lot about our team. We came out and we got our hands in the passing lane. We pressured the ball and we took away a lot of their first options. We made them go to their second and third options."

The Rockets? They got their main option freed up.

McGrady, who struggled to get going against Utah's double teams in the previous four games, erupted for a series-high 29 points. He made 13-of-26 shots, easily his best shooting effort of the series.

"I was just fortunate enough to have fresh legs throughout the game," McGrady said. "I was just mixing my game up -- dribble pull-up, going to the basket -- I kept them off balance a little better."

The Rockets seized control of the game in the second quarter as reserves Bobby Jackson and Carl Landry set the tone.

Jackson scored seven of the first nine points of the period as Houston turned what was a two-point game into an 11-point advantage. The Rockets eventually stretched that lead to 39-22 with a little over four minutes remaining before the break.

The Jazz clawed back within 10 points with 4:45 left in the third quarter before the Rockets responded with a game-clinching 12-0 run. Alston capped off the two-minute spurt with a three-pointer that lifted Houston to a 70-48 lead.

"We did some things a little bit different and we didn't do it a lot but we did go to Carl (Landry) and Luis (Scola) a few times inside," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "I think we have to try to put more pressure on their big guys if we can and those guys haven't been go-to guys at the post but I know I just wanted to see what we could do against their guys because we have some quickness in there."

The Rockets are now returning to Utah for another must-win game. Though the Jazz were the league's best home team in the regular season, the Rockets remain confident that they can still steal the series from Utah.

They're two wins away from doing it.

"We are going back to the lion's den where they have only lost five times," Rockets forward Shane Battier said. "The bad news is they have only lost five times, but the good news is they have lost twice to us. So, we are going to go in there. It is a must-win game again. We are going to go in there firing and try to pull off the same effort. But we know they are going to play a lot harder with their fans behind them."