Andrei Kirilenko scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half and rookie Mo Williams scored a career-high 10 points in the Utah Jazz's 83-76 win over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.

Utah Jazz forward Matt Harpring, left, is fouled by Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, right, of China as he puts up a shot during the first half Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2003, in Salt Lake City. [AP]

Raul Lopez had 10 points and five assists in his third career start, scoring eight straight for the Jazz late in the fourth quarter to help Utah seal it and improve to 7-1 at home. The Jazz are 3-1 on their current six-game homestand.

Yao Ming led Houston with 20 points and 10 rebounds, going 14-for-16 from the free-throw line to help make up for a 3-for-15 night from the field. Cuttino Mobley finished with 14 points and Steve Francis scored 13 for the Rockets, who came close to matching their season low of 71 points.

Utah's Matt Harpring scored nine points, including just two in the second half, but had 10 rebounds. Greg Ostertag pulled down nine rebounds for the Jazz, who prevailed on a night both teams struggled from the floor.

The Jazz were just 20-for-52 after three quarters, then made 13 of 24 in the final period to put away the Rockets.

Kirilenko scored 11 of the Jazz's first 17 points in the fourth. Lopez then took over after Eric Piatkowski made a 3-pointer to cut Utah's lead to 71-70.

Lopez, starting while Carlos Arroyo is out with a sprained left ankle, hit a pair of 3-pointers with a layup through traffic in between on an 8-1 Utah run in the final three minutes. Jim Jackson cut the lead to 79-73 with a free throw for Houston, but Kirilenko made a putback with about a minute left to put it away.

Williams, who took over when Lopez ran into foul trouble in the second and third quarters, also had a career-best 26 minutes. His previous highs were 25 minutes and seven points in a blowout loss at Dallas in the second game of the season.

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