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Tuesday April 24, 2007 1:52 AM




McGrady, Yao lift Rockets to 2-0 series lead over Jazz


Game 2: Houston 98, Utah 90


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Damien Pierce
Rockets.com Staff Writer
HOUSTON -- Before taking the podium in the interview room, Tracy McGrady waited inside the Rockets' locker room until Yao Ming was ready to join him.

He didn't see any point in taking center stage without the big fella after sharing it with him on Monday night.

The Rockets stars once again took turns tormenting the Utah Jazz in the second half and eventually lifted Houston to a 98-90 victory in Game 2 of the first round playoff series at Toyota Center.

McGrady scored 31 points and Yao contributed 27 points to leave the Jazz playing catch-up in the series.

The Rockets have won the first two games of the series heading into Thursday night's Game 3 in Salt Lake City. Since only 11 teams in NBA history have failed to win a series after gaining a 2-0 lead in a seven-game playoff series, the Jazz could be in trouble unless they figure out a way to slow down Houston's two stars.

"Superstars do what superstars do," Rockets forward Chuck Hayes said. "Tracy and Yao carried us in the second half. They put us on their backs and we rolled."

The two stars carried the offense on a night when nothing was dropping.

The Rockets didn't break 40 percent shooting for the second straight game against the Jazz by sinking a mere 36.1 percent of their shots. They clanked 20 of 24 jumpers from beyond the arc.

McGrady and Yao were actually held to 18-for-53 shooting by the Jazz, but the duo still combined for 35 points in the second half.

How did they do it? The stars did much of their damage at the free throw line by sinking a combined 21 of 23 foul shots. The Rockets overall canned 34 of 38 from the stripe.

Utah forward Carlos Boozer said the Jazz were trying to be physical with Houston's stars.

"If that's how the series is going to be called, we have to adjust a little bit,'' Utah forward Carlos Boozer said. "But that's how we have to play them. They're two superstars.''

The Jazz, meanwhile, didn't even attempt half as many free throws as the Rockets. They made only 13 of 17 from the line.

"When there is such a disparity in free throws, it is very difficult,'' Utah coach Jerry Sloan said.

McGrady and Yao provided the biggest lift in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter when the duo were responsible for several clutch baskets that did in the Jazz. They scored 12 of the team's final 18 points, including an alley-oop dunk by Yao that he hauled in on a pass from McGrady.

"We find ways to keep ourselves in the game," McGrady said. "We've been shooting the ball badly, but we hit big shots when we really needed them."

The Jazz? Not so much.

Boozer scored 41 points to lead the Jazz, but he didn't get much help. Deron Williams and Matt Harpring were the only other Utah players to reach double figures, finishing with 15 points and 14 points respectively.

Andrei Kirilenko, one day after crying over his reduced role, missed all three of his shots in 18 minutes of foul-plagued action and Mehmet Okur struggled through a 2-for-9 performance to score only four points.

The Jazz shot a respectable 45.2 percent, but made only one of nine three pointers.

"We're going to have to be better to beat this team, we know that," Sloan said. "We need everybody on our team to perform well in order to try to beat them."

The Rockets pulled away in the third quarter when McGrady knocked down a three-pointer over Harpring to give his team a 65-62 advantage. The basket sparked a 14-2 run that the Jazz could never fully recover from.

Utah did inch within 84-80 with 3:28 remaining, but the Rockets made 10 of 12 free throws down the stretch and got a fadeaway 18-footer from McGrady. Hayes, who tormented the Jazz with 12 points and 12 rebounds, added a tip-in that sealed the victory.

"We tried to go to the rack a little bit more," Rockets forward Shane Battier said. "(McGrady) did a great job of cutting to the basket and getting to the free-throw line. That's the only way that we can survive 36 percent shooting."

The Rockets are now hoping to not repeat recent history. After opening the 2005 playoffs with a 2-0 lead over the Dallas Mavericks, the Rockets ended up losing the first round series in seven games.

"I've been up 3-1 and I was up 2-0 with the Rockets when we didn't have home-court advantage and going through that (and not winning) personally leaves me a lot more focued," McGrady said. "We have a much more mature group. So I don't think we're going to relax."