SALT LAKE CITY — Tracy McGrady snapped out of his fourth-quarter slump and scored seven of his 27 points in the final period, leading Houston to a 94-92 victory over Utah on Thursday night that gave the Rockets life in a series that could have been headed for a sweep.
Rafer Alston added 20 points and five assists in his first game in nearly two weeks as Houston avoided falling behind 3-0 in the series by beating the team that had the best home record in the NBA during the regular season. Game 4 is Saturday back in Utah, where the Jazz were 37-4 this season.
Carl Landry had 11 rebounds and blocked Deron Williams’ shot that could have won it for the Jazz just before the buzzer.
Williams had 28 points and 12 assists.
Carlos Boozer had 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Mehmet Okur scored 12 and pulled down 11 boards for the Jazz, whose poor free throw shooting caught up with them in the fourth quarter when McGrady started scoring.
The Jazz went 20-for-33 from the foul line, getting 11 more chances than Houston (16-for-22)
McGrady, who has never been past the first round of the playoffs, had scored just one point total in the fourth quarter of the first two games, which Utah won in Houston to take a commanding 2-0 lead back home. But on Thursday, he found his touch from both the floor and the foul line to lead the Rockets from a seven-point deficit.
McGrady tied the game at 86 on a foul shot with 3:29 left, then gave the Rockets the lead with two more from the line with 2:50 remaining. He added a 19-foot jumper with 2:16 to go — his first fourth-quarter field goal of the series — then followed with a 20-footer to give the Rockets a 92-86 lead.
As he was shooting, Landry was drawing a foul on Andrei Kirilenko away from the ball. The basket counted and Landry made the free throw to convert the unusual three-point play and give Houston a 93-86 lead.
But the Jazz weren’t done.
Kyle Korver hit a 3-pointer, McGrady was called for an offensive foul and Okur hit another 3 to draw the Jazz within 93-92 with 37 seconds left. McGrady missed at the other end and the Jazz had a chance to win, but Landry blocked Williams’ shot from the lane and the rebound went to Luis Scola, who was fouled and went 1-for-2 from the line with 0.2 seconds left.
After a timeout, the Jazz threw away the inbounds pass.
Scola had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Shane Battier scored 12 points for the Rockets.
Ronnie Brewer scored 12 and Matt Harpring added 10 points for the Jazz.
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