Jazz face must-win

Imagine Jazz backup center Jarron Collins holding up a broom, and power forward Carlos Boozer casting rainbow jumpers over the extended bristles to practice shooting over Houston center Yao Ming.

Boozer did, and he broke up laughing at the thought.

No, that's not how he prepared for Monday's Game 2 in the first-round NBA postseason series between his Jazz and the 7-foot-6 Yao's Rockets. But the playoffs are all about adjustments, and Boozer certainly had to make some to go from scoring 11 points in last Saturday's Game 1 to 41 two nights later.

"You've got to prepare yourself to have a guy that's eight feet tall guarding you," he said.

"I watched tape after Game 1 and realized I was getting good shots. I just have to jump a little higher, or make him move a little bit more, see how agile he is," Boozer added. "And I'm going to continue to do that. I'm going to continue to drive a little bit, continue to hit my jump shot, try to mix it up with him and make him work, because he's such a load on (Utah's defensive) end."

Boozer can only hope the changes the rest of the Jazz make in tonight's Game 3 at EnergySolutions Arena are as effective as the ones he's made, because otherwise the Rockets — already up 2-0 in the best-of-seven affair — will then be just one additional victory away from a sweep that is not at all imagined.

"It's as close to a must-win (tonight) as we can get, I guess," Jazz forward Matt Harpring said. "You know, I hate using those kinds of terms — but this is our home court, and we're back, and we've got to make the most of it to turn the series around."

"I think it's a must-win. I mean, I feel like this series can change dramatically when we win (tonight). If we win (tonight)," Boozer added. "If we win (tonight), the series changes from guys being 'Can we play?' or whatever they're thinking to knowing that we can beat this team. And once we get that first win, then we can move forward."

If progress can be measured in housekeeping jargon, the Jazz have brushed aside a couple dust piles — but still have a vacuum cleaner's worth of work left to even the series.

Utah's starting forward, Andrei Kirilenko, still is struggling, having scored two points in Game 1 and none in Game 2. Rockets star Tracy McGrady is averaging 26 points over the two games, and the Jazz have nothing to suggest he can't hit that mark again tonight. And while Boozer got going offensively in Game 2, starting center Mehmet Okur did not, in large part because he was so energy-sapped playing on 27-point scorer Yao.