Rockets rally to edge Jazz
Houston cuts series deficit to 2-1
Tracy McGrady snapped out of his fourth-quarter slump and scored 7 of his 27 points in the final period, leading Houston to a 94-92 victory over the Utah Jazz last night in Salt Lake City 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 (37-4) in the NBA during the regular season.
Carl Landry had 11 rebounds and blocked Deron Williams's shot that could have won it for the Jazz just before the buzzer.
Williams had 28 points and 12 assists. The Jazz's poor free throw shooting caught up with them in the fourth quarter when McGrady started scoring. Utah 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 1 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 he found his touch from both the floor and the foul line to lead the Rockets back from a 7-point deficit.
Wizards 108, Cavaliers 72 - Maybe it was the haircuts. Maybe it was Soulja Boy sitting in Row 1. Or the sight of Colin Powell in a Wizards "White Out" T-shirt. Or just the comfort of being home. Whatever it was, host Washington soundly beat the Cavaliers to trim Cleveland's lead to 2-1 in the series.
Gilbert Arenas was in the starting lineup, even though he limped out of the game in the first half after injuring his surgically repaired knee. The team said Arenas had a bone bruise in his left knee. He was listed as day-to-day and might be done for the series.
DeShawn Stevenson had 19 points, Caron Butler scored 17, and the Wizards shot 52 percent. The Wizards tried to force LeBron James, who scored 32 and 30 points in Games 1 and 2, to shoot more from outside, and it worked for the most part. Booed heavily every time he touched the ball, the Cavaliers All-Star couldn't get into a flow before the game became a blowout.
James finished with 22 points on 10-for-19 shooting from the field and 2 for 4 from the line. He laughed when fans started chanting, "Overrated!" when he was at the line late in the third quarter and was so distracted that he missed the shot.
The chant was a reference to Stevenson's claim that James was "overrated" following a Wizards victory over the Cavaliers last month. James said responding to that remark would be like Jay-Z responding to Soulja Boy - a hip-hop mogul answering a one-hit wonder.
Stevenson had to eat his words after Games 1 and 2, but he had Soulja Boy dancing in the aisle while going 5 of 7 on 3-pointers. Several Wizards also sported new looks. Butler had his nickname - "Tough Juice" - etched into the back of his hair. Stevenson and Andray Blatche sported mohawks, and Nick Young showed off a modified high-top fade.
Raptors 108, Magic 94 - T.J. Ford scored 21 points, Jose Calderon had 18 points and 13 assists, and host Toronto beat Orlando in Game 3 of their first-round series.
Dwight Howard had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic, who lead the best-of-seven series, 2-1. Hedo Turkoglu added 26 points and Rashard Lewis had 19.
Orlando guard Jameer Nelson collapsed with back spasms as he was walking back to the locker room after the game and was seen writhing on the floor in pain. Coach Stan Van Gundy said Nelson was up and walking again minutes after the incident.
