Rockets at Jazz
The Houston Rockets will try to improve to 3-0 against the Utah Jazz this season when they continue their four-game road trip Thursday night. Houston beat the Jazz by 11 points in the season opener and by 15 on Jan. 10, when Houston forced 31 turnovers. The Jazz are playing much better lately, however, winning six of their last seven and will try for their first four-game winning streak of the season.
None of Utah’s last three wins have come against teams with a winning record, but it posted a solid 93-82 victory against the Memphis Grizzlies on March 3. Utah leading scorer Gordon Hayward missed Tuesday’s win against the New York Knicks with a back injury and his status is questionable for this game. Rodney Hood stepped up with a career-high 17 points against New York and Derrick Favors continues to play at a high level, averaging 20.6 points in the last four games.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, ROOT Sports (Utah, Houston)
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (43-21): Corey Brewer has scored 17 straight points for the Rockets entering this game. That’s correct — he scored the final 17 points of Houston’s five-point loss Wednesday night at the Portland Trail Blazers, but missed a potential tying 3-pointer with three seconds left. James Harden had a subpar game by his standards, scoring 18 points and dishing out six assists, but he hasn’t been held under 20 points in back-to-back games since late January.
ABOUT THE JAZZ (27-36): Not everyone enjoyed a good day against the Knicks as Trey Burke shot 1-for-11 and scored five points, and he is shooting 29 percent from the floor in five games this month. The other two starting guards for Utah, Elijah Millsap and Dante Exum, average 5.2 and 4.7 points, respectively, so if Burke isn’t making his shots, the Jazz are a lot easier to defend. That would be especially true if they’re without Hayward, one of the few on the team who can create his own shot.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Utah C Rudy Gobert leads the NBA with 90 blocked shots since Jan. 1.
2. The Jazz are holding their opponents to an NBA-low 83.4 points since the All Star break.
3. Harden has scored at least 30 points in a league-leading 27 games.
PREDICTION: Rockets 97, Jazz 90