Utah Jazz: Knockout punch — Jazz crush Rockets in 2nd half to earn playoff date with Lakers
So goes the transition for the Jazz, who dismissed McGrady and his Houston Rockets with a 113-91 victory in Friday night's Game 6 at EnergySolutions Arena and a 4-2 win of their first-round, best-of-seven NBA playoff series.
The reward for Utah, which now has ousted Houston from the opening round in two straight postseasons: A best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series with Bryant and his No. 1-seeded Los Angeles Lakers.
That series gets underway with an ABC-televised Game 1 scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Sunday at the Staples Center in L.A.
"We got a little taste of T-Mac in this series, and now we have another great scorer on the perimeter that we've got to worry about," said point guard Deron Williams, who carried the Jazz on Friday. "They've also got their low-post presence (in Pau Gasol), so it's going to be a little different for us."
"It's going to be a great series, man," All-Star power forward Carlos Boozer added. "I'm looking forward to it."
The Jazz can savor looking back as well.
McGrady, who has failed to advance to the second round of the playoffs in 7-of-7 appearances, finished with a game-high 40 points.
Williams wound up with a team-high 25 points, including four 3-pointers during a decisive third quarter in which the Jazz — who shot 46.6 percent from the field on the night — pushed a four-point lead to 20.
"He got on a roll there and was able to shoot the ball," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said of Williams, who also dished nine assists. "He was very excited, and he was pretty animated about playing the game."
Williams, Sloan suggested, played with much the same sort of confidence he has all season long.
"I don't know where our team would be without him," Sloan added.
McGrady scored 28 points in the first half alone, helping Houston trim what had been a 19-point Jazz advantage to just one late in the second quarter.
That is a new Jazz opponent-player playoff high for points in a half, topping the 27 posted by fellow Rockets Hakeem Olajuwon (first half) and Clyde Drexler (second half) in the same May 5, 1995 game.
Drexler finished that first-round game with 41 points, and Olajuwon 40.
The Jazz were up by 19 twice in the second quarter, the last time when Williams drove for a layup that made it 46-27.
But then the Jazz offense briefly broke to pieces, and the Rockets got theirs together.
McGrady went on a personal 9-0 run — a floater, two free throws, a driving layup and a 3-pointer — and scored 13 consecutive points for Houston as the Rockets whittled away at Utah's double-digit advantage.
And when backup point guard Bobby Jackson hit a runner with 29.4 seconds left before halftime, the Jazz lead was down to one at 55-54.
Williams, though, knocked down a 3-pointer 7.9 seconds before the half was done, sending Utah into the break up 58-54.
The Jazz point carried his hot hand into the third quarter, helping push Utah's advantage to 85-65 heading into the fourth.
"We just ran out of gas," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "We couldn't make another run."
Williams finished 9-of-17 from the field, including 6-for-9 from 3-point range overall and 4-of-5 from behind the long-distance line in the third quarter alone.
"I wasn't looking to score as much in the first half," Williams said, "and I wanted to be a little more assertive in the second half."
"He (Williams) was a lot more aggressive in the second half," McGrady said. "It seemed like he was feeding off the crowd."
Okur (19 points and a game-high 13 rebounds) and Boozer (15 points, 10 boards) both had double-doubles for the Jazz, who also got 13 points from Brewer, 11 from Kirilenko and 10 apiece off the bench from Matt Harpring and Kyle Korver.
McGrady, meanwhile, went scoreless with 0-of-4 field shooting during a third quarter in which Houston shot just 18.2 percent (4-for-22) and the Jazz outscored the Rockets 27-11.
"They came out ready for us," Adelman said.
"We made a game of it at halftime thanks to Tracy (McGrady), who was just unbelievable," he added. "Then they took control. You've got to give them credit. Their better players stepped up; Williams was terrific."
NOTES: Game 2 in the Jazz-Lakers series will be played Tuesday in Los Angeles, with Game 3 on Friday in Utah and Game 4 on May 11 at home ... Rockets starting point guard Rafer Alston left with four minutes and 55 seconds remaining in the second quarter due to a badly sprained right ankle and didn't return. He turned the ankle after driving the lane and coming down on Kirilenko's foot. X-rays were negative; an MRI exam is planned for today ... Brewer played 22 minutes despite a sore right hamstring that was sustained in Tuesday's Game 5 and that prevented him from practicing Thursday ... Jazz second-round home playoff tickets go on sale 10 a.m. Monday at the EnergySolutions Arena box office, all Ticketmaster locations, and on-line at utahjazz.com or ticketmaster.com.
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com
Recent comments
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magnus | May 4, 2008 at 8:15 p.m.
From the Mirriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
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Re;Maganus | May 4, 2008 at 6:12 p.m.
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magnus | May 4, 2008 at 11:55 a.m.
