ANDREI KIRILENKO scored 21 points, Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 16 rebounds as the Utah Jazz beat the Rockets 93-82 to take a 1-0 series lead in Houston on 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 had Yao Ming.

The All-Star center is out for this series with a foot injury and the Rockets have to wonder how they’re going to compete with the Jazz inside. Utah had a 34-29 rebounding edge through three quarters Saturday night and Boozer hit 10 of 20 shots.

“They’ve got some guys who kind of fill his spot,” Boozer said of Yao’s absence. “You can’t replace Yao Ming.”

The Rockets led last season’s first-round series 2-0, before losing four of the next five. Now, Houston must win at least once in Utah, where the Jazz had an NBA-best 37-4 record.

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.

“Yes, we miss Rafer,” said McGrady, who went 7-for-21 from the field and had seven assists. “We miss his long-range shooting, we miss him controlling the tempo of the offense. We missed everything about him tonight.”

As Yao watched in a gray suit from the Rockets’ bench, Utah outrebounded Houston 12-5 in the first quarter and led 23-18. Without the 7-foot-6 Yao to guard him, Boozer was a handful for Houston, grabbing seven rebounds and scoring six points in the quarter.

“It was big for us to come out and establish our presence early,” Williams said. “We did a good job of attacking.”

The Rockets outrebounded the Jazz 9-3 over the last five minutes of the half and trailed only 47-41.

Houston opened the second half with a 12-4 burst and McGrady had a hand in every point, with either a basket or an assist. He found Luis Scola open for a layup, then scored on a drive of his own to put the Rockets up 53-51, their first lead since the opening minutes.

Boozer scored on three straight Utah possessions, but picked up his fourth foul with 6:30 left in the third quarter and was replaced by Paul Millsap. Scola, guarded by Boozer most of the game, promptly scored inside to cut Houston’s deficit to 57-55.

But Kyle Korver sank a pair of 3-pointers in the final 2:29 of the third quarter and the Jazz led 68-60.

The Rockets hurt themselves further by going 6-for-12 from the free-throw line in the quarter. Williams sank a 3-pointer with 9:29 left to extend Utah’s lead into double digits again. The Rockets never made a serious threat after that.

(SD-Agencies)

Utah Jazz forward Carlos Boozer (top) blocks the shot of Houston Rockets forward Carl Landry (14) with the help of Jazz forward Matt Harpring during their playoff series in Houston, the United States, on Saturday.