NBA: Rockets survive failure festival – CP3 takes over for Harden

The Houston Rockets have won their first match point in Game 5. The 100:87 away win (BOXSCORE) against Utah Jazz was enough for Chris Paul and Clint Capela, while James Harden was disappointed. Nervous jazz missed too many of their opportunities.

The fans experienced a furious start in the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Utah. Not because the team scored great points, but because Rudy Gobert, Jae Drwoder and Donovan Mitchell smashed back the Rockets in a volleyball manner. Despite the four blocks in the initial phase, however, the jazz at the other end of the pitch overturned, made bad decisions and gave the Rockets the spalding. At the beginning, however, they found it difficult to find their throwing rhythm. It’s a good thing that in such cases you have the right man in James Harden, who makes the points from the free-throw line.

At the beginning of the second quarter at the latest, the rhythm was there. Houston immediately increased from +7 to +15, and not only the litters seemed to fall. Under the board, Clint Capela was once again convincing. The Swiss overpowered both Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors when he came from the bank. Donovan Mitchell had some objections to an early end of the game. The 13 points of the rookie in the third quarter brought the Jazz to 5 shortly before the end of the game, but the teams sent further hair-raising mistakes into the cabins with a difference of 10 points. 58:48 Rockets.

Also in the third quarter the guests started hot. It didn’t even take a great harden to punish Utah’s flawed game. A very strong Chris Paul turned mid-range jumpers into mid-range jumpers, while on the other side of the court the turnover figures rose and at the same time the triple ratio dropped to a meanwhile frightening 18 percent. The only reason why the game was not clearly decided at that point was that the Rockets themselves had had a weak evening beyond the three-point line.

Hope arose again for the home team in the final quarter thanks to Raul Neto. The Brazilian received playing time due to a thigh injury from Dante Exum and trimmed the Jazz gap into the single-digit range with two early threesomes. A cold Harden even allowed the Jazz to come up to 5. However, the joy was short-lived. CP3 always created great looks from the half distance. The veteran and the physical dominant presence of Capela were enough against the flawed performance of jazz.

Paul contributed 27 points (12/23 FG, 12 REB) to the second away win, while Capela collected 12 points (6/11FG) and 6 blocks as well as 15 rebounds. On the Jazz side, Donovan Mitchell, who had to leave the game with 6 fouls, was the best pitcher (25 PKT, 8/24 FG, 9 REB).

The Rockets have the chance to finish the series in game 5 in front of their home crowd on the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.

Utah Jazz – Houston Rockets 87:100, Series 1:3 (BOXSCORE)

On his 33rd birthday, it was the veteran who jumped in the breach for an inefficient James Harden. CP3 was always there when the jazz just came back within striking distance. With all his experience, Houstons Point Guard created great half-distance looks and was the clear focal point of the Rockets offensive. On the other side he gave Donovan Mitchell a hard time and pulled important offensive fouls time and again.

The Center of Jazz started the game perfectly. There were two blocks in the first posession. Beyond that, however, little went. The Frenchman gave Clint Capela the better position under the basket again and again. He had great problems after switches against isolation and made mistakes with the ball in his hand. His plus/minus rating of -27 was the worst of all players.

Switch resistant! Clint Capela was the X factor for the Rockets on the defensive side. They were able to take the liberty of switches because the Swiss defended excellently at the perimeter and in the zone. Mike D’Anthony could let Capela defend every jazz player with peace of mind.