Thanks to the kind soul who turned in Okur’s shot.  Minus his three-point shooting, he was 6-7.  But more importantly, he frustrated Yao all night and Yao responded with his usual thug-like behavior.  It takes more to set off a bear trap.  The big three, Boozer, Okur, and Willliams (BOW) all had great games. 

Complete Box Score

After a Jazz run in the late third & early fourth, you could see the Rockets mailing it in.  If you’re a Houston fan, you haved to be a little concerned with their lack of care.  What it seemed like was Houston saying, “We don’t have to win any games here.”  That’s true, but it shows an arrogance that could lead to their demise.  They shot better in this game, but overall played pretty poorly.  And good news, their bench finally got on the board.

But it seems like Okur has Yao’s number the past two games.  That can’t be explained away just because the Jazz were playing at home.  And having AK on McGrady has shown that despite Kirilenko’s 0-1 shooting, he can have a huge effect on the game.  Houston’s top two were held to 38 points combined, the Jazz had the advantage from the free-throw line. 

So, heading back to Houston on Monday, what are we suppose to suspect?  Which game are we going to see?  Unfortunately, I think the Jazz will have to battle the Rockets and the refs again.  But if Okur plays as well as he did on both ends of the floor as he did tonight, I think the Jazz pull the game out.