Rockets at Jazz
The Utah Jazz have seized homecourt advantage from the NBA's best team this season and they'll try to make it hold up when they host the Houston Rockets on Friday for Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinals. After losing all four regular-season encounters and then falling by 14 points in Game 1, the Jazz shot 51.8 percent and used a 14-2 run in the fourth quarter en route to a stunning 116-108 triumph in Wednesday's Game 2.
"This year, I think we have a better team," center Rudy Gobert told reporters of his squad, which was swept four straight in this round last season. "Every game, we come out to win. That's the mindset." The Rockets had won 25 of their previous 26 home games - including the playoffs - before a lackluster start doomed them in Game 2. "Last game, we came out completely opposite. Tonight, they kind of caught us off-guard," star guard James Harden told reporters. "We adjusted to it in that second quarter, but we can't get down 19 no matter who we're playing." Harden scored 32 points and two other starters had at least 21, but Houston's bench was outscored 41-22 and shot 7-of-25 from the floor.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
ABOUT THE ROCKETS: Coach Mike D'Antoni hopes that the Game 2 loss will serve as a wake-up call for his team, which he said lacked the necessary energy to compete with the motivated Jazz. "We can correct our energy and we can correct the necessary focus that we need to have," D'Antoni said Wednesday. "You get lulled into sleep. You think this stuff's easy. It's not easy. This is the NBA. This is the [conference] semifinals. We kind of got lulled into it, and we paid for it." Chris Paul had 23 points and Clint Capela finished with 21 and 11 rebounds for his fourth consecutive double-double.
ABOUT THE JAZZ: Joe Ingles hit a career-high seven 3-pointers in nine attempts en route to a team-high 27 points in Game 2 and the 30-year-old is averaging 15.9 points in the playoffs - up from 11.5 during the regular season - while making 50.9 percent from beyond the arc. "Every time Joe has needed to step up his game, he has been able to," coach Quin Snyder told reporters. "He's committed to that. He knew tonight he would need to make some shots and he was able to do it." Reserve Jae Crowder is averaging 18 points in the series while making 8-of-13 3-pointers.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Rockets PF Ryan Anderson has five points on 2-of-9 shooting in 43 minutes over his last four games.
2. Jazz rookie SG Donovan Mitchell is averaging 26.1 points in the playoffs and he handed out a career-best 11 assists in Game 2.
3. Houston won each of the two matchups at Utah during the regular season by 11 points.