Rockets at Jazz
The Houston Rockets won the first two games by an average of 26 points and look to take a 3-0 series lead when they visit the Utah Jazz on Saturday in the Western Conference first-round matchup. The fourth-seeded Rockets averaged 120 points while dominating the two games in Houston as they won by margins of 32 and 20 points.
Rockets star guard James Harden produced 32 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in Game 2 for his third career postseason triple-double in a contest Houston led 70-44 at halftime while cruising to a 118-98 triumph. "The Rockets are playing at an unbelievably high level," Jazz coach Quin Snyder told reporters. "They're going to make plays. The adjustment to that is to just keep competing. That's the mindset that we have to have." Fifth-seeded Utah is struggling to find a rhythm on offense while Houston is scoring at will and threatening to make this a short series. "When we do what we do, I don't think anybody can beat us," Rockets forward PJ Tucker told reporters of the Game 2 performance. "And that's a fact, I don't care. If we come out and communicate and when our guys get going and are aggressive, we're tough."
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston), AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah)
ABOUT THE ROCKETS: Houston insists it will come out flying in Game 3 as the team doesn't want to let the Jazz use their homecourt advantage to get back into the series. "For us, we got enough vets to know that we did what we're supposed to do," Rockets point guard Chris Paul told reporters. "You're supposed to win your home games, so Game 3 is a big game for us, and we know they'll be a lot more comfortable going into their home court with their home fans, but fortunately we've been there before." Harden is averaging 30.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 10 assists and has knocked down 10 3-pointers in the series.
ABOUT THE JAZZ: Star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell was a porous 5-of-19 shooting while scoring 11 points in Game 2 and is averaging just 15 points on 12-of-37 shooting through two games. Center Rudy Gobert (16.5) and point guard Ricky Rubio (16.0) have higher averages than Utah's go-to guy but coach Quin Snyder sees the squad's 39.4 shooting percentage over the first two games and knows there are numerous players who need to step up their games. "Hopefully we can hit more shots at home," Snyder told reporters. "Our group has always been a group that's responded, and that's what we have to do. We played poorly, and we have to be better. That will be the focus."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Paul has the same number of turnovers (10) as assists in the series.
2. Utah was just 15-of-65 from 3-point range in the first two games.
3. Tucker is 7-of-14 from behind the arc while averaging 13.5 points.