"That's a team that we could see in the postseason for three years in a row, so that was a good win for us," Boozer said. "They're a very good team and we'll see them again."

The Jazz extended their NBA-best winning streak to nine games with their one-two punch back together. Boozer had 20 points and 17 rebounds in his fifth game back from knee surgery while Williams totaled 26 points and 14 assists.

Williams said Boozer "definitely looked like his old self tonight," especially in playing down the stretch for the first time, while Boozer said, "Me and D-Will got our chemistry back."

All the same, the play of the game belonged to Brewer, who fouled out Yao by drawing a charge despite giving up close to 100 pounds to the Rockets' center. Yao bowled over Brewer as he cut across the lane with Houston trailing 93-89.

Told by Jazz coach Jerry Sloan to try to bump Yao on such plays, Brewer had been brushed aside instead. He decided to stand his ground and paid the price for it, but as Brewer said, "It was a good price because we came away with the win."

Yao finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five blocks in 31 minutes, but the Jazz succeeded in keeping him in foul trouble all game.

He headed to the bench with his second personal only 6:07 in and made another early exit in the third quarter, picking up his fourth foul with 5:23 left after lowering his shoulder into Mehmet Okur and drawing an offensive foul.

Yao made the Jazz pay whether they double-teamed him or stayed home in the fourth quarter, with Brewer describing the Rockets as being at their best when Yao's "hitting on all cylinders." But Yao voiced his frustration at fouling out afterward.

"Every time a defender player is on the ground, even if he just wants to sit down and have a rest, it's my offensive foul," Yao said.

"That's unfair. I know I have 300 pounds, but the same way people pushed me, I have to really limit my strength to push back."

The Jazz used a 15-4 run to take a 69-56 lead in the third quarter as Williams hit Brewer for a dunk and Okur followed with a three-pointer, pounding his chest for good measure. But the Rockets came all the way back to tie the score at 85-85 with 4:51 left.

Yao followed up his own miss to score as part of a three-point play and turned away from the double-team to hit a jumper on the baseline. Boozer answered with a jumper off the screen-and-roll and another jumper to make it 93-87 with 2:44 to play.

The Jazz outrebounded Houston 27-9 in the first half, with Boozer grabbing 13. He scored 14 points in the second half, hitting 6 of 10 shots, and played 34 minutes for the night.

"I'm not 100 percent yet," Boozer said. "I'm still working. I still can't jump like I want to, but I'm going to keep working on it and keep trying to improve and go from there."

Ron Artest (25 points) banked in a three-pointer with 43.2 seconds left to make it 95-92, but Williams capped his night by keeping the ball on a screen-and-roll, crossing over Lowry to the left and hitting his second jumper in the final minute.

"I just hit the one before that, so I felt good about it," Williams said. "I felt I could free myself up over a shorter guard and get a good shot."

The Jazz closed within a half-game of the fourth-place Rockets and trail Northwest Division-leading Denver by a game heading into Friday's showdown. "All these games coming up are important with how tight the West is and we just have to keep it rolling," Williams said.

rsiler@sltrib.com

Storylines

IN SHORT ? The Jazz win their ninth straight game, regrouping after blowing a 13-point lead in the second half.

KEY MOMENT ? Ronnie Brewer takes a charge to foul out Yao Ming with 1:32 left and the Jazz leading 93-89.

KEY STAT ? The Jazz go a perfect 17-for-17 at the foul line, the first time that has happened since January 2005.