Yao leads Rockets past Jazz

Published 8:26 pm Wednesday, January 21, 2009

HOUSTON — Yao Ming had 19 points and 12 rebounds, Rafer Alston scored 23 and the Houston Rockets beat the Utah Jazz 108-99 on Wednesday night.

Von Wafer added 21 points, including a pivotal 3-pointer in the closing minutes, and Luis Scola had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Rockets, who’ve won six of seven.

Deron Williams had 32 points and 11 assists and Ronnie Brewer had 23 for the Jazz, who’ve dropped seven of their last 10 road games. Andrei Kirilenko sat out for Utah after leaving Tuesday’s game against Minnesota with a right ankle injury.

The Rockets were also short-handed, playing again without Ron Artest and Tracy McGrady, who’ve missed most of January with injuries.

Just as they did in a double-overtime loss to Houston on Dec. 27, the Jazz rallied from 16 points down in the third quarter to make it interesting at the end.

Houston led 91-87 before Wafer sank a 3-pointer from the corner with 2:35 left in the game, his first field goal of the second half. The Jazz got no closer than five after that, though Mehmet Okur missed an open 3 in the final minute that would’ve cut the lead to four again.

The Rockets went 27-for-28 from the free-throw line and outrebounded Utah 43-37.

The Jazz played in Salt Lake City on Tuesday night and looked tired at the start, missing nine of their first 15 shots. The Rockets started 8-for-11 from the field and led 23-13.

Utah continued to shoot poorly in the second quarter and Houston stretched the margin to 16. The Jazz defense was also a step slow in the first half, leaving Houston’s perimeter shooters open enough to go 8-for-14 from 3-point range.

The Jazz cut the deficit to nine early in the third quarter, but Yao hit a free throw and Alston sank back-to-back 3-pointers to restore Houston’s 16-point lead. Utah came back as its shooting improved, and Brewer’s 3-pointer with 3:07 left in the third quarter trimmed the Rockets’ lead to 72-66.

Utah shot 52 percent in the third quarter and trailed 80-73 heading to the fourth. Yao went to the bench with his fifth foul with 8:16 left and Houston up 85-76.

Williams sank a 3-pointer, drove for a layup and found Brewer on a fast break in a 1-minute span to cut Houston’s lead to four with 2:49 to go. Rockets coach Rick Adelman called time out to get Yao back in the game.

Notes: Utah coach Jerry Sloan said he didn’t know Kirilenko’s

status for Saturday’s game against Cleveland. “We’ll just wait ‘til next time, see what happens the next game,” Sloan said. … Artest had an MRI and bone scan on his nagging right ankle that showed improvement, but Adelman could not say when Artest would be return to the lineup. “We’ve got to see how he’s reacting, how he plays,” Adelman said. … Yao has three double-doubles in his past four games and 22 this season.