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(Sports Network) - The Utah Jazz attempt to take a commanding 3-0 lead over the Houston Rockets in their first-round playoff series, as the teams battle tonight at EnergySolutions Arena.

On Monday, Deron Williams scored 22 points and Mehmet Okur added 16 points and 16 rebounds in Utah's 90-84 win over Houston at the Toyota Center in Game 2 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Carlos Boozer had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Jazz, who contained Tracy McGrady again in the final quarter to grab a 2-0 lead in the series,

McGrady finished with 23 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, but was held to one point in the final quarter. Bobby Jackson ended with 18 points and rookie Luis Scola netted 14 before fouling out for the Rockets.

In the opener, Williams scored 20 points and dished 10 assists as the Jazz rolled to a relatively easy 93-82 win over Houston on Saturday at the Toyota Center.

The Rockets could get a big boost this evening, as point guard Rafer Alston (strained right hamstring) is probable. He missed the first two games of the series. Alston averaged 13.1 points and 5.3 assists in 74 games during the regular season.

McGrady has not been on the winning side in an NBA playoff series (0-6) during his career.

Houston has lost two straight Game 3s in the postseason, while the Jazz have captured three of their last four Game 3s.

Game 4 of this best-of-seven series is scheduled for Saturday at EnergySolutions Arena.

Utah was a league-best 37-4 at home during the regular season.

The Jazz, captured the Northwest Division crown and are the fourth seed in the West, while Houston is No. 5 and finished in third place in the Southwest Division. The Rockets own home-court advantage in this series since they had a better regular-season record than Utah.

The Rockets came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Phoenix Suns in the 1994 and 1995 West semis.

Utah defeated the Rockets in seven games in last year's postseason. Houston won the first two games of the set, and ended up losing Game 7, 103-99, at the Toyota Center.

There is a lot more playoff history between the Jazz and Rockets. This is the seventh time in the postseason that the teams will square off.

Houston defeated Utah in the first round of the postseason in 1995 and in the 1994 West finals. The Jazz knocked out the Rockets in the opening round of 1985 and 1998 and in the 1997 conference finals.

During the regular season, the Jazz were 2-1 against Houston. The teams split a pair of games at Utah, while the Jazz knocked off the Rockets, 97-89, on January 27 at the Toyota Center.

The last time the Jazz were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs was in 2003, when they were knocked out by the Sacramento Kings in five games, 4-1.

The Rockets are trying to win their first playoff series since 1997. They defeated the Seattle SuperSonics in seven games, 4-3, in the West semis, before losing to the Jazz in the conference finals, 4-2.

Houston is going to have to win in the postseason without All-Star center Yao Ming, who last played on February 24. Yao has been sidelined with a stress fracture in his left foot and underwent surgery on the injury. Yao averaged 22.0 points and 10.8 rebounds in 55 games this season for the Rockets, and shot 50.7 percent from the floor.