HOUSTON (NBA) - Yao Ming came through in the clutch for the Houston Rockets, scoring six of the team's final eight points to lift them to a 96-92 win over the Utah Jazz in their Western Conference play-offs first-round series.

The Rockets were nursing a 91-90 lead when the China center hit a turnaround jumper off the glass to extend the lead to 93-90 with 1:25 to play.

Yao sealed the win with two free throws with 11 seconds left. He finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds and was nine of 10 from the line.

It was a vital win for Houston, who had taken a 2-0 lead in the series before suffering a pair of double-digit road losses as the Jazz evened things back up in Salt Lake City.

Tracy McGrady had 26 points and a career-high 16 assists despite leaving the game in the first quarter with a hip pointer. McGrady left the bench with 1:14 to go in the first quarter and went to the locker room with a trainer. He returned to score 20 points in the final three quarters.

"I was really trying to be aggressive," McGrady said. "I was trying to give my teammates open shots and also attack the basket. I was really trying to get to the basket and kick the ball out. I just wanted to take advantage of the matchups I had out there."

All-Star forward Carlos Boozer scored 26 points and had eight rebounds for the Jazz. It was the first time in the series that Boozer did not record a double-double.

Game Six will be in Utah on Thursday, when Houston will look for its first playoff series win since 1997.

"We need to win a game on the road," said Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy said. 

"You just try to play as well as you can and put yourself in position."

- Duncan, Ginobili put Spurs on the verge

The San Antonio Spurs moved a huge step closer to Western Conference semi-finals with a 96-89 win over the Denver Nuggets, putting them 3-1 up in the seven-game series.

Tim Duncan collected 22 points and 11 rebounds while Argentina's Manu Ginobili added 18 points and six assists off the bench.

However, it was Robert Horry who drained a crucial three-pointer to put the game out of reach in the closing stages.

Horry, a 15-year veteran with six championship rings, looked like a man determined to win number seven.

The 36-year-old has built a reputation for hitting key clutch shots and he added to his collection on Monday.

After Nuggets guard Steve Blake's long two pulled the Nuggets to within one, Horry went to work.

Benefiting from penetration by lightning-quick France star Tony Parker, Horry dropped in a high-arching three-pointer from the right corner to make it 93-89 with 30 seconds left.

"It felt good.  (Marcus) Camby really contested it, and I had to shoot it high," Horry said. 

"I thought it was going to be short but it went in.  Tony penetrated and just passed it to me in the corner. I don't think that would of made the top five or 10 (best shots) for me.  There was too much time left on the clock and too many things could of still happened."

Ginobili was at a loss for words.

"What can you say?  (Horry) has done it so many times we are getting used to it," Ginobili said.  "It makes me upset that he makes it look so easy.  It didn't even touch the net.

"It was just a great play.  That was the play that really killed them.  We are lucky to have him.  You just have to trust him. Every time he puts it up, it is a good shot for us."

At the other end, Parker and Bruce Bowen teamed up to try to shut down Allen Iverson, restricting the All-Star guard to nine of 25 shots from the field.

The Nuggets did get 29 points from Carmelo Anthony, but have it all to do if they are to rescue this series.

- James, Ilgauskas lead Cavs to sweep

Team USA forward LeBron James and Lithuania's Zydrunas Ilgauskas showed little sympathy for the Washington Wizards' injury woes as they helped the Cleveland Cavaliers complete a 4-0 sweep with a 97-90 win in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

The Wizards were battling to overcome the loss of All-Star duo Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler and though they showed plenty of heart, James and Ilgauskas were just too good for them.

James scored 31 points and had 11 rebounds while Ilgauskas added 20 and 19.

"The most important thing is that it raises our confidence and allows us to get a little bit of rest," James said.

"It's going to be a long, stressful and fatigueful post-season for us, so the most rest we can get by us taking care of business tonight is going to add to us being able to recover some of the nicks and bruises that we might have."

Ilgauskas scored four points in an 8-2 run that gave Cleveland the lead for good, 85-80, with 3:23 to play.

"These guys made us work for everything that we got," Ilgauskas said. "We knew they had a lot of pride because nobody wants to lose a series 4-0.  We knew it was going to be tough.  It wasn't easy, but we stepped up at the end."

Antawn Jamison scored 31 points for Washington.

Ian Parker
FIBA