Jazz Get Biggest Win Over Houston In 20 Years
Dec 7, 2018, 12:21 AM | Updated: 11:44 am
Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) high-fives Utah Jazz guard Dante Exum (11) during a timeout in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
(Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz dominated the Houston Rockets to a 118-91 victory after losing Rudy Gobert early in the game. It was Utah’s biggest win against the Rockets in the last 20 years.
Gobert was ejected just 2:47 into the game after picking up two quick fouls. He aggressively slapped a container of chalk that was sitting on the scorer’s table as he was heading to the bench, leading to the ejection.
Donovan Mitchell wasn’t needed as he scored just six points. Dante Exum had 15 points off the bench and Jae Crowder had 12 points.
The Jazz weren’t effective from the three-point line against the Rockets as they shot 8-of-32 from deep. They hit a franchise record 20 three-pointers against San Antonio on Tuesday.
With the cold shooting from the perimeter, the Jazz found their scoring in the paint as they outscored the Rockets 70-42.
Favors Stepped Up
Jazz big man Derrick Favors filled in for Gobert after the ejection as he led the team in scoring with 24 points off the bench while pulling down 10 rebounds in 26 minutes.
He shot 10-of-13 from the field and hit all four of his free-throw attempts.
📹| “We’re a connected team. When one guy goes down or one guy gets into foul trouble or something, the next guy steps up every single time.”#TeamIsEverything | #HOUatUTA pic.twitter.com/42gEDIAKsx
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) December 7, 2018
Joe Ingles added 18 points while hitting 4-of-6 three-pointers. He tied Bryon Russell for the third most made three-pointers in a Jazz uniform with 540.
Second Half Rout
After leading 53-45 at the half, the Jazz came out red hot as they scored 38 points in the third quarter and held the Rockets to just 11 points that led to the blowout win.
Houston went nearly 5 minutes without a bucket, while Utah went on a 19-0 run.
Favors scored 8 of his 24 points in the third, and was one of seven Jazz players to score.
Hell of win tonight, proud of my boys @EkpeUdoh @dfavors14 for holding it down. #ontothenextone
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) December 7, 2018
The Jazz followed up their third quarter performance with a 35-point fourth quarter. Houston didn’t score in the last 1:50 of the game.
Utah led by as many as 37 points.
The Rockets finished the game shooting 38 percent from the field and 22 percent from the three-point line. Utah countered with a 50 percent outing from the field. The Jazz committed just 12 turnovers while Houston had 23.
James Harden led the Rockets with 15 points but hit just five of his 16 field goal attempts.
We know it’s cold in Salt Lake buuut SHEEESH 🌨️😉#TeamIsEverything pic.twitter.com/QEyr9k3j0Y
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) December 7, 2018
Next Up
The Jazz improved to 13-13 on the season and .500 for the first time in 10 games with their two-game winning streak. They will travel to San Antonio to face the Spurs at 5 p.m. on Sunday. The game will be broadcast on AT&T SportsNet.
The two teams last played on Tuesday, with Utah handing the Spurs a stinging 139-105 loss.
