The 16-point lead in the second quarter was forgotten. So was the 12-point lead in the third quarter. The 10-point lead they opened the fourth quarter with had vanished in less than four minutes. Now the Houston Rockets were banking in three-pointers and pulling away on their home court.

Just when things looked darkest, however, the Jazz found their way to the light. They reversed course in the last six minutes Saturday night and produced one of the finest moments in franchise history, storming back to a 103-99 triumph over the Rockets in the rarest of Game 7 road victories.

It came on the strength of their three-point shooting and their sheer determination to chase down every offensive rebound in sight. As a result, the Jazz won their first playoff series since 2000 and became just the 12th team in NBA history to come back from a 2-0 series deficit to advance.

"I couldn't be happier for a group of guys that I've coached since I've been here,'' Utah coach Jerry Sloan said, "because I started off the season hoping that they would be able to get to this level and then have the chance to play in the first round and try to move on from there."

At the end of an exhausting and exhilarating series, the Jazz can see a deeper playoff path ahead of them. They will open the Western Conference semifinals against Golden State on Monday night at EnergySolutions Arena, with home-court advantage over the eighth-seeded Warriors.

For this next-generation Jazz team, with a new set of stars in Carlos Boozer (35 points, 14 rebounds) and Deron Williams (20 points, 14 assists), it was a breakthrough victory of the highest order. All series, the Jazz grew up in Sloan's mind with each and every game.

What was missing was the victory on the road, after coming up empty three times on the Toyota Center court. They blew a fourth-quarter lead in Game 5 and regarded it as a missed opportunity after posting three convincing wins over the Rockets in Salt Lake.

It looked like more of the same Saturday, with the Rockets scoring the first seven points of the fourth quarter and ready to unleash the full force of Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. But when the season appeared to be slipping away, the Jazz came together like a playoff-tested team and closed the game on a 20-11 run.

"It shows the fight we have,'' Williams said. "It takes a lot to come in somebody else's building and win in Game 7, with all the pressure on you, and we were able to do that tonight. We hung in there and we fought all game long. It's a special day for us."

Boozer said: "To win Game 7 on the road in a hostile environment when they came back and grabbed the lead from us, we grew up a lot in this series and it's going to help us in the next series."

The comeback started from 88-83 down with 6:09 remaining. There was Boozer unleashing a primal scream with each basket and Andrei Kirilenko - in the same building where he broke down after Game 1 over his season-long struggles - tied the score 88-88 on a three-pointer with 5:08 to play.

It was one of just two baskets on the night for Kirilenko and his first three-pointer in a month. It came on a shot he figured he had to take with the defense straying off him. It turned out to be the biggest shot of his career.

"It's been a tough season for me,'' Kirilenko said. "Lots of circumstances. Lots of things you don't know want to know and I don't want to bring you. But we win in the playoffs. Right now, that's all that matters."

The Jazz went on to hit two more three-pointers, both by Mehmet Okur, who finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. After sacrificing his shot all series to battle Yao, Okur came through when it mattered, hitting the go-ahead three-pointer with 3:23 left.

His team was able to take a 96-95 lead into a timeout with 1:31 remaining and held on from there. All season long, the Jazz have keep track of offensive rebounds on their locker room board and they came up with three in the last 90 seconds Saturday.

Okur got a second chance at three-pointer as a result and buried it with 1:16 to play, putting the Jazz ahead 99-95. Even as Okur missed another two three-pointers, Matt Harpring and Boozer grabbed the rebounds and watched as the seconds melted from the clock.

Boozer's two free throws with 19.9 seconds left made it 101-97. The Rockets closed to two points on a McGrady layup with 9.8 seconds left but opted not to foul Williams in the backcourt. The Jazz burned more than eight seconds before Kirilenko was fouled and went to the line.

All that was left was the celebration. Kirilenko sank both free throws to make it official. No Jazz team, not even during the Stockton-Malone era, ever had come back from 2-0 down to win a series. No Jazz team ever had won a Game 7 on the road for that matter.

"We just kept playing hard and we believed we could win the game,'' Derek Fisher said.

rsiler@sltrib.com