Jazz at Rockets
James Harden looks to carry on his torrid play into the postseason when the Houston Rockets host the Utah Jazz on Sunday in the opener of the Western Conference first-round series. The All-Star guard led the NBA with a 36.1 scoring average and his 378 3-point baskets are second all-time behind Stephen Curry (402 in 2015-16).
The fourth-seeded Rockets ousted the Jazz in five games in the second round of last season's playoffs when Harden averaged 28 points and 7.4 assists. Houston ended the regular season with a flourish and rolled off 20 wins in 23 games before suffering a final-second 112-111 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in its season finale. Fifth-seeded Utah may be the underdog in the series but second-year shooting guard Donovan Mitchell sees no reason why his club can't reach the NBA Finals. "I think that's my mindset at least. I play this game to win," Mitchell told reporters. "It doesn't matter. They can say, 'No rookie has ever gotten to the finals.' They can say, 'No second-year player.' But for the guy who I look to is Dwyane Wade got there in his third year so why can't we do it? Why can't we as a team get to that point?"
TV: 9:30 p.m. ET, TNT, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah), AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston)
ABOUT THE JAZZ (50-32): It appeared over the final few weeks that the Portland Trail Blazers would be Utah's first-round opponent but the way things played out on the final day of the season led to the slim odds of Houston being the foe. "We kind of expected it," center Rudy Gobert, who had 66 double-doubles, told reporters of landing Houston. "It's almost like the basketball Gods wanted us to play Houston and it's like no matter what you do, you've got one chance out of a million and it happened, so we all were like, 'OK.'" Mitchell topped 20 points in nine of the club's 11 playoff games last season with both under-20 outings coming against Houston.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (53-29): Harden isn't looking just to be a scorer during the postseason as he feels more like a leader than he did earlier in his career. "I've learned to be more even-keeled," Harden said of his postseason experiences. "We have to be confident, keep that up as we go along." Center Clint Capela, who had a career-best 45 doubles-doubles, is battling an upper respiratory infection but is expected to be ready for the series opener.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The teams split four regular-season meetings with each team recording one road victory.
2. Utah PG Ricky Rubio (quadriceps) missed the final three games of the regular season but is expected to give it a go in Game 1.
3. Houston PG Chris Paul has topped 20 points in three of the past seven games and scored in single digits in three others.