The Utah Jazz balanced the series with the Houston Rockets in game 2. With the Texans the guests showed a great team performance and won with 116:108 (BOXSCORE). Donovan Mitchell was responsible
No changes in the lineups for both teams, Ricky Rubio was still missing for Utah. Donovan Mitchell made this forgotten at the beginning and found his free teammates, among others Joe Ingles got two free threesomes. After six minutes the guests had already 20 points and were leading with seven points. It was the opposite of game 1, the jazz met their threesomes, while Houston was still a little cold. Jae Croweder’s four-point play was followed by the jazz after 12 minutes with 36:28.
Utah continued to dominate the action, hardly allowing any slight points, while Alec Burks scored 8 points in just a few minutes. But also the starters extended the lead, Houston had no answer to the pick’n’roll between Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Four minutes before the break, however, Mitchell picked up a controversial third foul, James Harden answered with a personal 7-0 run (5 free throws), Utah led 64:55 at half-time.
And Harden continued right where he left off. The Rockets star also benefited from Mitchell’s reluctance to make a quick fourth foul. Utah also had problems offensively, the same plays that worked in the first half stopped the Rockets now. Meanwhile, the hosts forced three ball losses in a row and the Rockets took the lead again after a long time (71:69).
But now the jazz started to score again thanks to Burks. On the other hand, Harden provided a real highlight when he took Favors onto the poster after a Drive Derrick. A little later, however, Harden came to an end after he committed his fourth foul through an offensive foul against Dante Exum. The Jazz entered the final quarter with an 86:85 lead.
And Utah continued to resist because Mitchell also made better decisions. First he hammered a putback dunk over three opponents through the cage, then he served the waiting Ingles in the corner (103:96). Utah was double-digit, but Harden and Paul brought Houston within reach again. The Rockets stayed cold from a distance, Eric Gordon and P.J. Tucker gave away completely open threesomes. Exum got the Dagger just a minute before the end, when the Australian finished after a drive as elitist as Mitchell.
The best scorer in Jazz was Ingles with 27 points (10/13 FG, 7/9 triple), plus five other guest players with double figures. Mitchell (17, 6/21 FG, 11 Assists) fought extremely with his throw, but always had an eye for the free Mispieler. Gobert (15, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks) also posted a double-double, with Crowder (15) and Burks (17) contributing quite a bit from the bank.
For Houston Harden was the hardest scorer with 32 points (9/22 FG, 2/10 triple, 12/13 FT), Chris Paul marked 23 points. Meanwhile Clint Capela (21, 11 rebounds) profited again and again from Harden.
Houston Rockets vs. Utah Jazz -:-, Series XX:XX (BOXSCORE)
Donovan Mitchell (Jazz): “We couldn’t lose such a lead today as in game 5 against OKC. Alec Burks, Dante Exum, Joe Ingles: They all played fantastically today. We want to continue attacking the switches, then we have a good chance in our home games.
Joe Ingles. Whenever the Australian started the throw, there were almost three sure points. The Aussie poured a full seven threesomes (Career High) into the Rockets. They were not only spotups, but also throws from dribbling, which you don’t usually see with Ingles. Also strong: Mitchell’s playmaking and Exum’s defense against Harden.
Trevor Ariza. That Utah scored almost at will in the first half was at least due to the non-existent help provided by the Rockets’ wing players. Straight Ariza stuck to the perimeter and allowed so simple dunks. Also offensively hardly a factor. His threesomes were all wide open, a quota of 1/4 is already very poor.
The Jazz provided a blueprint on how to punish the switching of the defense in the first half. Gobert and Favors got numerous dunks. The Bigs only hinted at the screen and quickly slipped to the basket, which completely surprised Houston. Especially the wing players of the Rockets slept a few times. After the break, Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni aggressively doubled Mitchell, upsetting the rookie.