McGrady comes to the rescue for Rockets

Tracy McGrady broke out of his fourth-quarter slump and scored seven of his 27 points in the final period, leading Houston to a 94-92 victory over Utah on Thursday night at Salt Lake City that gave the Rockets life in a series that could have been headed for a sweep.

Rafer Alston added 20 points and five assists in his first game in nearly two weeks as Houston avoided falling behind 3-0 in the best-of-seven series by beating the team that had the best home record in the NBA during the regular season.

Game 4 is Saturday in Utah, where the Jazz was 37-4 this season.

Carl Landry had 11 rebounds and blocked Deron Williams’ shot that could have won it for the Jazz just before the buzzer.

Williams had 28 points and 12 assists. Carlos Boozer had 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Mehmet Okur scored 12 and pulled down 11 rebounds.

McGrady, who has never been past the first round of the playoffs, had scored just one point total in the fourth quarter of the first two games, which Utah won in Houston to take a commanding 2-0 lead back home. But on Thursday, he found his touch from both the floor and the foul line to lead the Rockets from a seven-point deficit.

Washington 108, Cleveland 72 -- LeBron James went up for the shot and had the ball stripped cleanly by Caron Butler, who went the length of the court for a dunk that gave the Wizards a 29-point lead.

No contact on the play. Even James couldn’t call it “Hack-a-Bron.” James was beaten on the play and he knew it, much the same way his Cavaliers were beaten soundly by the Wizards at Washington in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference series.

DeShawn Stevenson and Butler found their games. James didn’t have his. And 15 first-half Cleveland turnovers had a lot to do with it too.

Stevenson had 19 points, Butler scored 17 and the Wizards cut Cleveland’s lead to 2-1 in the first-round series.

One game after setting a franchise playoff record with a 30-point win in Game 2, the Cavaliers set another team postseason mark by losing by 36. The margin of victory also set a Wizards franchise playoff record.

Booed heavily every time he touched the ball, the Cavaliers All-Star couldn’t get into a flow before the game became a blowout. His first-half numbers: five for 11 from the field with only one trip to the free-throw line for a total of 11 points.

James finished with 22 points on 10-for-19 shooting from the field and two of four from the free-throw line. He also had seven rebounds, three assists and four turnovers.

Toronto 108, Orlando 94 -- With a quick start and quality point guard play, the Raptors turned the tables on the Magic at Toronto.

T.J. Ford scored 21 points, Jose Calderon had 18 points and 13 assists, and the Raptors cut Orlando’s lead to 2-1 in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

Ford shot two for 17 in the first two games of the series, but looked confident and comfortable in this one, splitting time almost equally with Calderon.

The Raptors finished 12 for 34 from three-point range and set playoff highs for points in a game and a half (61).

Chris Bosh, who finished with 15 points, didn’t make his first basket until a breakaway dunk with 12 seconds left in the first half, giving Toronto a 61-38 lead.

Dwight Howard had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic, Hedo Turkoglu added 26 points and Rashard Lewis scored 19.