Utah 93, Houston 82 (F)
HOUSTON, April 19 (AP) -- Andrei Kirilenko scored 21 points, Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 16 rebounds and the Utah Jazz beat the Houston Rockets 93-82 in the opener of their first-round series Saturday night.
Deron Williams had 20 points and 10 assists as Utah, 17-24 on the road during the regular season, won its second straight playoff game in Houston. The last victory came in Game 7 last season, and that was when Houston got help from Yao Ming.
Yao is not around for this one. He's out for the series with a foot injury and the Rockets have to wonder after Game 1 how they're going to compete with the Jazz inside. Utah had a 34-29 rebounding edge through three quarters and Boozer hit 10 of 20 shots.
Utah's reserves also played well, outscoring Houston's reserves 28-17.
Shane Battier scored 22 and Tracy McGrady had 20 points for Houston, which shot 37 percent (29 of 79).
The Rockets are also playing without starting point guard Rafer Alston, who strained his right hamstring late in the season. His backup, Bobby Jackson, scored seven points on 3-for-15 shooting.
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