Rockets blast Jazz on the road, regain series control

SALT LAKE CITY, United States (UPDATED) – The Houston Rockets dumped the Utah Jazz, 113-92, in Game 3 to regain the series lead in the NBA Western Conference semi-final series on Friday, May 4. 

Stung by 116-108 Game 2 defeat on their home floor, the Rockets responded with a vengeance to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 second-round series.

Rockets star James Harden scored 25 points with 12 assists in 30 minutes on the court.

Eric Gordon added another 25 points in a merciless display by a Rockets team that led the league with 65 regular-season victories.

Royce O’Neale led the Jazz with 17 points as Houston’s stifling defense shut down Game 2 standouts Donovan Mitchell and Joe Ingles.

Mitchell connected on just 4 of 16 from the field for 10 points while Ingles, who scored 27 points in Game 2, finished with 6 points on two-of-10 shooting.

“We didn’t give up any easy looks,” Harden said. “We contested every shot.”

After a Game 2 performance that Harden described as “lackadaisical,” Houston came out with laser-like focus.

The Rockets scored on 6 of their first 7 possessions, Harden’s first field goal putting the Rockets up 15-5.

Their 39 points in the first quarter had the Jazz reeling — which was just what the Rockets had in mind.

“We were going to be the aggressor,” Harden said of the team’s mindset after their stumble at home. “Game 2, they dictated the tempo, they came out and kind of punched us in the mouth with a 36-point quarter.

“So we wanted to kind of do that same thing – and we did.”

Houston led by as many as 22 in the first quarter and by as many as 38 in the third, harrying Utah into 16 turnovers that the Rockets converted to 19 points.

To make matters worse, the Jazz, already without injured point guard Ricky Rubio, saw Derrick Favors exit with a sprained ankle in the third quarter. – Rappler.com