The stage was set Wednesday night for Jazz point guard Earl Watson to cap one of the best performances of his 10-year NBA career.

With 15.9 seconds to play in a back-and-forth slugfest against Houston, Paul Millsap swung the ball to Watson, who was open for a three-pointer. The Jazz owned a 96-94 lead at the time and, if Watson had made the shot, they probably would have beaten the Rockets.

Instead, Watson missed.

It was one of the few things he didn't do against Houston, which prevailed when Kevin Martin converted a three-point play with 6.9 seconds left and Utah's C.J. Miles missed at the buzzer.

"I got an open shot," Watson said. "I just missed it."

The Jazz's final possession was just as frustrating for Watson, who said, "We came back down and got a good shot.

"C.J. had a good shot. I thought C.J.'s shot was going in. I thought my shot was going in. But we missed them and they won it."

With Deron Williams sidelined for the fourth straight game because of a wrist injury, Watson played 45 minutes — two shy of his career high.

He finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

"I thought Earl was phenomenal," said teammate Raja Bell. "I thought he did everything he could do to win the game for us."

Watson's final rebound came on the offensive end with 39.9 seconds remaining, when he outfought the Rockets' Kyle Lowry and Aaron Brooks for the ball and positioned the Jazz to win.

"Right now, I don't even care about my individual performance or my individual role," Watson said. "I just worry about winning and losing. That's what I came here for."

The Jazz dropped to 2-2 since Williams was injured last week against San Antonio.

In that span, Watson averages 8.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and eight assists in 34.7 minutes. He would have played more, too, except foul trouble limited him to 20 minutes in Sunday's 96-81 loss at Golden State.

"He's trying to get the ball to other people," said coach Jerry Sloan. "He came in here to back up Deron and gets put in a situation where he's playing a lot of minutes. But I think he's held up pretty well."

Watson's play has been doubly important because Utah's other point guard, Ronnie Price, has struggled.

He finished with two points on 1-of-7 shooting against Houston, making him 6 of 24 over the last four games.

Watson "... is not going to score a lot of points," Sloan said. "He looks to get the ball to other people. I think that helps our team a great deal. It helps us compete." —

Watson's past four games

Min FG 3s FTs Reb Ast Pts

vs. Minnesota 39 3-8 0-2 4-4 2 13 10

at Golden State 35 3-6 2-3 0-0 4 5 8

vs. Charlotte 20 2-2 0-0 1-2 3 6 5

vs. Houston 45 5-12 0-4 1-2 9 8 11