After Allston’s 3-pointer cut the lead to two, Kyle Korver answered with two free throws for Utah to make it 84-80 with 12.5 seconds left. Then after Carl Landry put back an offensive rebound, Williams had a chance to seal it for the Jazz.

After his first miss, he still had a chance to put Utah back up by three. But he missed again, seeming to surprising everyone but Okur.

“That was huge. That was the play of the game right there,” Utah’s Matt Harpring said.

Andrei Kirilenko added an exclamatory block as the buzzer sounded and the Jazz left the court one win away from advancing. Kirilenko scored 11 and Ronnie Brewer had 12 points and two blocks as all five Utah starters scored in double figures.

After falling behind by 16 early in the third, Houston rallied to get within five points at the end of the period and continued to push early in the fourth to almost completely erase Utah’s lead. Bobby Jackson and Landry hit two free throws each and Alston took a steal in all alone for a layup to cut the lead down to 68-67 with 10:39 left in the game.

“The one thing about this team is that they don’t quit. They never give up,” Houston coach Rick Adelman said. “It was a tough game. We just have to come back and regroup and get that game back in Houston.”

Williams took control for Utah by driving for two layups to start an 8-0 run. Harpring knocked the ball out of McGrady’s hands, Williams bounced a pass to Boozer in the lane for an easy basket, then Korver made a 19-footer that put Utah back ahead 76-67 with 6 minutes left.

McGrady didn’t score in the fourth until his layup over Boozer got Houston within 76-69 with 5:40 remaining. He had a chance to get the Rockets within two, but went 1-for-2 from the foul line twice.

McGrady also led Houston with eight assists and 10 rebounds, but the Rockets were outrebounded 48-41.

Notes: Jazz G Jason Hart missed the game with the stomach flu. ... The Rockets closed the first quarter on a 12-3 run to take a 23-21 lead into the second. ... After missing 13 free throws in Game 3, the Jazz improved Saturday by going 24-for-31 from the line. ... Battier scored 10 and Landry added 13 points for Houston.

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