Rockets at Jazz
The Houston Rockets responded to a rare loss with an impressive display of basketball in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal series with the Utah Jazz and look to take a 3-1 series lead when the teams meet in Salt Lake City on Sunday. After the Jazz triumphed 116-108 in Game 2 to temporarily wrest home-court advantage from the top-seeded Rockets, Houston answered in convincing fashion when the series shifted to Utah.
James Harden scored 25 points and handed out 12 assists in the 113-92 rout as the Rockets opened a 30-point halftime lead and cruised from there. "I thought our defense was superb," Houston coach Mike D'Antoni told reporters. "We were hitting shots all over the place. We just got a hold of it, kept the crowd out of it and kept them on their heels. You could see the guys feeding off good defense after good defense. When you do that and your energy is right, the shots start to go down and good things happen." Guard Donovan Mitchell has taken a leadership role as a rookie for Utah and knows he needs to improve on a 10-point effort on 4-of-16 shooting. "I didn't really do much as a whole, like I wasn't there," Mitchell told the media. "That can't happen. That will probably be what I take away the most. It's like I would have been better off just not showing up, because that's what I did. I didn't show up at all for my teammates, and I'll fix it."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE ROCKETS: A big factor in Houston's turnaround was the stroke of shooting guard Eric Gordon, who was 8-of-13 from the floor in Game 3 after shooting under 50 percent in each of his first seven games this postseason. "I just got to continue to be aggressive," Gordon told reporters of his breakout game. "It doesn't change for me." Harden and Chris Paul combined for 18 assists against one turnover in Game 3.
ABOUT THE JAZZ: Point guard Ricky Rubio (hamstring) has been doing some agility drills and light work on the court as he approaches a potential return, and Utah has another injury concern in the form of Derrick Favors, who left Game 3 with a sprained ankle. Favors, who averaged 12.3 points on 61.7 percent shooting in the first round against Oklahoma City, told reporters he hopes to play in Game 4. The Jazz will look for a bounce-back effort from Joe Ingles after he followed up a 27-point effort in Game 2 with a six-point showing in Friday's loss.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Rockets have 59 made free throws in the first three games of the series, compared to 39 for the Jazz.
2. Harden is averaging 30.4 points in the postseason, identical to his league-leading average during the regular season.
3. Including the regular season, Houston has won all three meetings in Utah by double digits.