Big night out for Boozer
Utah Jazz big man Carlos Boozer was in red hot form as his 24 points and 19 rebounds helped the his side keep the Houston Rockets grounded in their 107-97 victory in their season opener.
Houston’s Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady combined for 47 points but it wasn’t enough to beat the Jazz who have beaten the Texans in six of their last seven meetings.
Boozer’s rebound total was two shy of his career high and he was ably assisted by Deron Williams who added 18 points and 10 assists.
After playing in just the final 33 games last season due to a hamstring injury, Boozer started strong, netting 13 points in the first quarter to help Utah build a 35-26 cushion.
The Jazz extended their lead to 60-48 at halftime and remained comfortably in front until the closing minutes.
The Rockets launched a late challenge when after trailing by double digits for much of the contest they closed to 99-94 on a three-pointer by Rafer Alston with 3:31 left.
But the Jazz responded with an 8-0 spurt, pushing the margin to 107-94.
The game was one of 13 on the slate Wednesday, the second day of the 2006-07 season.
In Cleveland, LeBron James scored 26 points to lift the Cavaliers to a hard-won 97-94 victory over the Washington Wizards.
James scored 10 points in the final quarter, including a twisting finger roll with 49 seconds to play to give the Cavaliers a 95-93 lead.
It was the Wizards first opening loss in four seasons.