They weren't expected to encounter much difficulty against the Rockets in this year's playoff rematch, especially after returning home with a 2-0 lead. The biggest question days ago seemed to be whether the Jazz would close out the series in four games or five.

For a team that has won 12 playoff games the last two years, the Jazz are largely new to pressure situations. Make no mistake, they will face one in Friday's Game 6.

If they can't finish off the Rockets at EnergySolutions Arena, a building where they have gone 38-5 this season, the Jazz would face a return to Houston for Game 7 on Sunday amid talk of a historic collapse.

"We can't put our head down right now," Andrei Kirilenko said after Tuesday's 95-69 loss in Game 5. "We're still leading. We still need to get back home and take care of business."

"Nobody expected them to win right now," Kirilenko added. "They beat us by 20. Everybody already gave us a win. You need to earn it. We need to be way better."

If the series went to the judges' scorecards right now, the Jazz would be trailing on points. They've been outscored 437-430 in the series. It was a different story last year, when the Jazz trailed 3-2 against the Rockets but had outscored them 436-430.

The Jazz are averaging just 86.0 points in the series, 20 points fewer than they averaged in the regular season. After missing another 10 free throws in Tuesday's loss, the Jazz are shooting a dismal 66.1 percent from the foul line against Houston.

Take away Mehmet Okur's two three-pointers and the Jazz scored 10 points in the first quarter of Game 5. Take away Deron Williams' drives and the Jazz scored seven points in the second quarter.

"We certainly have to play a lot harder," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said, "because they got loose balls, they knocked us around, they went after the basketball with their heart."

There's cause for concern on the Jazz's part. The Rockets are the only team to have beaten the Jazz twice at EnergySolutions this season. They also are 2-1 since starting point guard Rafer Alston's return from injury for Game 3.

"They've made up their mind to go after us," Sloan said, "and they've done that the last two or three games since they added Alston back."

The Rockets won 22 consecutive games, the second-longest winning streak in NBA history, which could make winning three straight in the playoffs seem manageable. Most importantly Tracy McGrady got going in the second half Tuesday.

McGrady scored a series-high 29 points and went 13-for-26 from the field. It was his best shooting game since March 8.

"I was fortunate enough to have fresh legs throughout the whole game," McGrady said, "and I was just mixing my game up - dribble pull-up, going to the basket - I kept them off balance a little bit."

For the Jazz, both Kirilenko and Okur are shooting worse than 40 percent in the series. Kyle Korver has gone 3 of 15 from three-point range while the Jazz's bench was outscored 26-9 Tuesday, including 18-0 in the second quarter.

The biggest questions surround Carlos Boozer, who has struggled all series, battling foul trouble, missing free throws and shooting 44.6 percent overall. Boozer has yet to match his season scoring average (21.1 points) once in the series' five games.

Although he has not missed a game because of it, Boozer was bothered by a sore back the second half of the season. He said Tuesday that his back wasn't 100 percent "but it's enough for me to play. . . . I don't talk about it much. I'm not worried about it."

With Tuesday's loss, though, the Jazz squandered any chance to get Boozer and Williams rest for their injuries. If they win Friday, the Jazz will open the conference semifinals against the Lakers on Sunday, the NBA announced.

rsiler@sltrib.com

* GAME 6

Houston at Utah

Friday, 8:30 p.m., KJZZ, ESPN