Rockets 97, Jazz 82
James Harden led the way with 30 points and Donatas Motiejunas added 14 points and 10 rebounds as Houston turned away visiting Utah.
Josh Smith scored 10 points off the bench and Trevor Ariza had 10 as well for the Rockets, who picked up their third straight win. Patrick Beverley chipped in 10 points and seven assists for Houston
Trey Burke scored 16 points and Derrick Favors collected 15 points and seven boards as the Jazz had a fourth-quarter comeback fall short. Enes Kanter (ankle) returned from a four-game absence and scored 16 points off the bench for Utah, which has lost back-to-back games for the first time since a three-game slide from Dec. 12-16.
Smith’s transition basket gave the Rockets an 84-64 lead with 8:55 left before the Jazz made their last move, getting seven straight points from Burke to spark an 11-0 run. Harden knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers and Houston forced Utah into two straight shot clock violations to spread the lead back out.
The Rockets ended the first half with a 12-3 run to take a 46-37 lead into the break and pushed it to 63-49 when Harden, Beverley and Ariza hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions. Brewer scored the final five points of the third to send Houston into the final stanza up 78-57.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Rockets were making a brief stop at home between games in New York due to a schedule quirk and will visit the Brooklyn Nets on Monday after earning a 120-96 win at the Knicks on Thursday. … Harden leads the NBA with 15 30-point games. … The Jazz committed 31 turnovers, leading to 38 points.