What the Jazz starters didn't seem to know — or at least did not show they understood — was just how much Sloan was hoping for a better opening than he witnessed Wednesday.

Houston jumped to an early 26-11 lead even with McGrady and Yao watching, and it was the subs — Giricek, Millsap and rookie Ronnie Brewer in particular — who were mostly responsible for Utah using a 30-15 second quarter to silence the rather vocal opening-period boo-birds and take a 50-47 advantage into halftime.

"It didn't flow very well for our starters out there," Sloan said. "It was fun to watch the other guys step out there and play hard. I was happy with our guys off the bench. They seemed to be enthused, they fans were excited about it and I tried to give them more minutes.

"Hopefully these guys got some experience that will be a benefit to them, if they do get called upon."

Each of the Jazz's starters opened after the break, but none played in the fourth quarter — leaving it to Utah's reserves to stretch a four-point lead heading into the final period to as many as many as 15 when No. 3 center Rafael Araujo used a 13-foot jumper for two of his season-high points.

The bucket by the ex-BYU pivot made it 92-77 with six-and-a-half minutes remaining. Utah never permitted their lead to slip below eight after that, and that allowed the Jazz's starters to muck it up a bit while mulling what is to come.

"Guys are excited, guys are ready. Anxious," Williams said. "You know, we were over there sitting on the bench talking about how it's gonna be a fun series.

"I'm just happy we got the win," he added. "Fifty-one wins is a good season."

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