The Houston Rockets took a commanding 3-0 lead over the Jazz Saturday night in Salt Lake City after a 104-101 victory. The Jazz aggressive defensive approach against James Harden finally paid off, holding the defending MVP to 3-20 shooting, and just 22 points, but still couldn’t jumpstart their stagnant offense so far this series.
For the third straight game, the Jazz failed to convert 30% of their three point shots, finishing just 12-41 from beyond the arc, and missed 13 of their 38 free-throws. Donovan Mitchell paced the Jazz with 34 points, but made just nine of 27 field goal attempts, and missed five free-throws of his own.
Harden was held without a field goal for the first three quarters, but poured in 14 fourth quarter points, just enough to edge the Jazz. The Jazz again got poor shooting performances from their combo wings, with Joe Ingles, Jae Crowder and Royce O’Neale combining to shoot just 6-20 from the floor, and 4-15 from the three point line.
The Rockets have a chance to close out the Jazz Monday night in Salt Lake City.
