The Rockets have led but all but 40 seconds of playing time in their two games in Utah. The Jazz are scrappy and fight to stay in games, but the story here is that Houston has their number in this series.
Clint Capela shined in Game 4, playing 37 minutes on Sunday and anchored the defense for the entire night. His 12 points, 15 rebounds, and six blocks that show on the stat sheet don’t even begin to describe what he brought for the team on both ends of the floor.
Chris Paul, celebrating his 33rd birthday also had himself a night, with 27 points and 12 rebounds. While his play was spectacular all night, his post game interview might have been the best.
The Houston Rockets crushed the Utah Jazz in Game 3, 113-92, rebounding a surprising loss the game before. Everything was falling for Houston, which held a 70-40 lead at the half.
A game after Utah proved it could survive without Ricky Rubio, it regressed, with rookie guard Donovan Mitchell scoring just 10 points on 16 shots. Joe Ingles had just six points, and Rudy Gobert scored 12. Things got sloppy for Utah. They had 16 turnovers to 17 assists, and the Rockets capitalized.
The Rockets may have only shot 31 percent from deep, but they finished well at the rim, sinking 49 percent of their total attempts. Eric Gordon scored 25 points on 13 attempts off the bench, James Harden scored 25 on 17 shots, Clint Capela and Trevor Ariza both scored 11 points on eight shots each.
For the game, Houston finished with 26 assists to just eight turnovers. Chris Paul and Harden are proving themselves yet again as one of the league’s best backcourts.
Can Utah recover? Or is this it for their Cinderella run through the playoff?