Utah Jazz: Strong statement — Kirilenko lifts Jazz to solid road victory over Houston

HOUSTON — After Game 1 of the Jazz's first-round NBA playoff series with the Houston Rockets last year, small forward Andrei Kirilenko shed tears of frustration here.

But there would be no crying after Game 1 of the same No. 4 vs. No. 5 seed Western Conference series this year.

Kirilenko scored a team-high 21 points Saturday night, leading the Jazz to a 93-82 Game 1 win over Houston at the Toyota Center — and leaving the memories of last postseason's meltdown far, far behind.

"He seemed to be so much more relaxed. He played so much more relaxed," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. "He played with a great deal of determination.

"(Houston's Shane) Battier came out of the gates quick on him and kind of got him off-balance a little bit," Sloan added, "but I was happy that after that happened — when Battier made the first couple shots he took — that he was able to stay in there and stay competitive and not let that take him out."

The Jazz also got a 20-point, 10-assist double-double from point guard Deron Williams, who helped hold Rockets replacement-point Bobby Jackson to 3-of-15 field shooting, and another 20 points and a game-high 16 rebounds from power forward Carlos Boozer, who now has six double-doubles in eight playoff games against Houston dating back to last postseason.

But when Boozer and his backup encountered foul issues — Boozer picked up his fourth with six minutes and 30 seconds to go in the third quarter, and the Jazz leading at the time by just four points at 57-53 — Kirilenko wound up logging some minutes at power forward himself.

"We ended up having to go with Andrei and Matt Harpring in place of Boozer some and Paul Millsap the second half," Sloan said. "They had foul trouble a little bit, and Andrei, I thought, had a terrific game.

"We played him at 4, and he did a nice job finding people, getting people the basketball, and making some plays himself. That's really encouraging for us."

Also uplifting for Utah had to be the fact that the Jazz — while allowing Battier a game-high 22 points and rookie power forward Luis Scola a 14-point, 13-board double-double — limited Rockets All-Star Tracy McGrady to 20 points and 7-for-21 field shooting.

"He's a wonderful player, and it's very difficult for us to try to handle him, because he can shoot over the top of you," Sloan said of McGrady. "I just thought some of our big people did a better job of trying to help out than what had happened in the past.