Brewer really excels at job when facing the Rockets News Houston rockets

There's something about playing the Houston Rockets that seems to bring out the best in Ronnie Brewer this season. That, by the way, is not exactly something most guys who are hounded by Ron Artest can usually claim. But despite often being matched against Houston's physical and tough defensive specialist, Brewer turned in yet another gem of a game against the rival Rockets in the Jazz's 99-86 win Tuesday at EnergySolutions Arena. Though he didn't get off the bench in the fourth quarter ?

except to cheer on his teammates ? the Jazz's starting shooting guard did plenty of damage in the first three quarters to help Utah win this important contest. In just 26-plus minutes, Brewer scored 17 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out three assists, blocked two shots and helped pester Artest into a 5-for-22 shooting night. "Man, he's been great all season," said Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer. "Defensively, I thought he did a fantastic job on one of their best players in Ron Artest. On the offensive end, he had 17 points and he didn't even play in the fourth quarter, so he was fantastic." Especially so in the third quarter, when he aggressively scored a dozen points, which included a timely 3-pointer that came in a stretch when the Jazz began to take command of the game for good. The third quarter also included the highlight-reel play of the game, during which Brewer dribbled the ball to the corner of the baseline and then exploded past Artest and 7-foot-6 center Yao Ming. He put an exclamation on the speedy move by stuffing in a reverse dunk with authority. "I think that's one of my jobs is go out there and provide energy," Brewer said. "Third quarter I got it going a little bit and just tried to provide a spark for this team." He's done that at times against all of the Jazz's opponents, but he's really risen to the challenge in each of Utah's four showdowns with Houston. Coming into Tuesday's contest, Brewer was averaging 22 points against the Rockets this year. "Ronnie gets his. He just floats around the basket," said Kyle Korver. "We joke all the time, he just seems like he hangs around the rim and you pass it to him and he goes and dunks it. ? "He's really becoming a really, really good player." Brewer's teammates were almost more impressed by his dazzling defense against Artest, who missed 17 shots and only scored 13 points in a very off-night. "He's taken the challenge on defensively to start locking up the other team's best offensive player on the perimeter," Boozer said. "At the same time, he plays so aggressive offensively, cutting to the basket, getting dunks and being aggressive on the board. He's been playing fantastic all season." Korver said the Jazz depend on ? and are spoiled by ? Brewer being active on both ends of the court. "He's played really good defensively all year long, it's his game. He's energy. He gets all those dunks, steals, that's his game. "He knew he had a tough challenge tonight, but he stepped up. And if we're going to be a team that we want to be he has to do that a lot." Brewer knows that, too. And he even accepts the fact that his performance might occasionally not include any fourth-quarter PT. "I just got to do my part. I can't control what happens," Brewer said. "If I go in the fourth quarter, I just try to play well. If I don't (I just) cheer my teammates on, that's all I can do." E-MAIL: jody@desnews.com