SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Rookie Chase Budinger scored a career-high 17 points and was one of eight Houston players to score in double figures as the Rockets beat the Utah Jazz 113-96 on Monday night.
The Rockets pulled away with a 13-0 run early in the fourth quarter and won in Salt Lake City for the first time since spoiling the Jazz's home opener two years ago.
Aaron Brooks had 19 points and nine assists and Luis Scola added 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Rockets (3-1), who made eight of their first 12 shots in the fourth quarter to blow open a three-point game.
Deron Williams had 18 points and eight assists and Andrei Kirilenko added 18 points and seven rebounds for the Jazz (1-2). Mehmet Okur scored 21 and Ronnie Brewer had 19 points for the Jazz.
Utah was just 13 for 35 in the second half, going more than 7 minutes without a field goal late in the third quarter. Carlos Boozer went 1 for 6 while scoring seven and Williams was just 6 for 20 from the floor for Utah, which went 13 for 35 in the second half.
Houston, playing without injured stars Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, outrebounded Utah 46-38 and had 29 assists to the Jazz's nine. It was the Rockets, not the Jazz, who were passing the ball around for open shots, then kicking it outside for 10 3-pointers.
Budinger, whose previous career high in three NBA games was 11, hit two 3-pointer and Shane Battier hit three from beyond the arc, where Houston was 10 for 19. Battier finished with 13 points, Chuck Hayes had 12 points and nine rebounds and Trevor Ariza scored 15.
Carl Landry and Kyle Lowry added 10 points each for the Rockets, whose reserves outscored Utah's 40-13.
The Jazz went without a field goal from Okur's layup with 7:14 left in the third until Kirilenko hit a 22-footer at the buzzer cut Houston's lead to 79-76 heading to the fourth. Utah had just regained possession with 3.4 seconds left when Williams drew an offensive foul on Ariza as he took the ball up court after yet another miss by the Jazz.
The Jazz took a short-lived 80-79 lead, then Houston started scoring. Budinger banked in a shot to give Houston the lead for good at 82-80, then followed that with a 3-pointer.
The Rockets led 89-84 when they pulled away with 13 straight points. Budinger hit another 3-pointer and a layup during the run, which Lowry capped with a 3 that put the Rockets up 102-04 with 5:02 left in the game.
Jazz fans started booing and leaving the building, not wanting to see any more. and Battier hit again from beyond the arc to put Houston up
Notes: Okur missed the Jazz's home opener Friday with a sprained ankle. ... Utah rookie Wes Matthews scored his first NBA points on a layup with 10:08 left in the second quarter to put Utah up 32-26. ... The Rockets made exactly half their shots (42-84).
