Third's a charm: Jazz even playoff series with dominating third quarter against Rockets

Twice in this now all-even back-alley brawl, it was terrific trouble.

More terrifying than Yao Ming, much more problematic than Tracy McGrady.

It was the third quarter, and it was killing the Jazz.

Utah wrestled away the knife in Saturday night's Game 4 of its first-round NBA playoff series with Houston, however, using a career playoff-high 25 points from point guard Deron Williams to beat Yao's and McGrady's Rockets 98-85 at sold-out EnergySolutions Arena and even the best-of-seven Western Conference 4-5 seed showdown at 2-2.

That sends the Jazz back to Texas for Monday's Game 5 at the Toyota Center in Houston — where the Rockets control homecourt advantage — with the series essentially reduced to a best-of-three affair.

And it's largely because of what the Jazz did in the Williams-driven third, a 12-minute flurry of super shooting, impressive interior play and a confidence-oozing presence heretofore unseen from coach Jerry Sloan's club in the series.

"This was our Achilles heel in Houston — the third quarter," Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer said. "We always had a lead at halftime, and they came back and took it from us ... out there."

Houston indeed owned the third quarter in Games 1 and 2, outscoring Utah 26-11 in the first outing and by seven points in the second en route to an early 2-0 series lead. Even in Game 3, which the Jazz won 81-67 on Thursday, the Rockets managed only 10 third-period points — yet were outscored by just three points.

Game 4's third quarter, however, was all Jazz.

"That's something we focused on in practice," Boozer said, "and it transferred over."

Up by five points at halftime, Utah — which limited Rockets stars Yao and McGrady to just 20 and 18 points, respectively, marking their lowest combined scoring total of the series by a full dozen — extended its advantage to 21 heading into the final quarter by outscoring Houston 33-17 in the decisive stanza.

The Jazz shot a whopping 61.1 percent (11-of-18) from the field in the quarter, one which saw Williams hit 5-of-5 free throws and score 11 of his game-high 25.

"All-Star performance," Jazz backup power forward Paul Millsap said of second-season point Williams, who also carried the Jazz in the opening half by hitting 6-of-7 from the field to help send Utah into the break up 50-45.