Jazz Look To Sweep Homestand Against Rockets
Feb 14, 2022, 1:48 PM | Updated: 5:41 pm
Utah Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic (44) tries to defend Houston Rockets center Christian Wood (35) as the Jazz and the Rockets play at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. Houston won 116-111. (Credit: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
(Credit: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz appear one step closer to full strength as they prepare to host the Houston Rockets on Monday night.
Rudy Gobert went through shoot-around with the team after missing the last nine games with a calf strain suffered in the team’s loss to the Golden State Warriors on January 23.
The Rockets meanwhile have been struggling since their surprise win over the Jazz in Utah on January 19. Since that victory, Houston has lost eight of their last nine games.
Jazz Improving Without Gobert
Though Gobert may return from injury tonight, there’s been significant growth from the team on the defensive end in his latest absence.
During the three-time Defensive Player of the Year’s initial stint on the bench between January 5-16, the Jazz owned a defensive rating of 119.7, a number that would rank dead last in the NBA spread over a full season.
Rudy Gobert and Eric Paschall both went through shootaround for the @utahjazz.
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) February 14, 2022
But in the team’s last nine games without Gobert, that number has climbed to 110.0, good for ninth-best in the NBA over the stretch.
During the team’s recent five-game homestand, the defensive rating has climbed to 103.1, good for third in the league, and the Jazz are undefeated in the stretch.
With a win, the Jazz will sweep their six-game homestand before traveling to Los Angeles to face the Lakers on Wednesday in their final contest before the All-Star break.
Rockets Look For Jazz Road Sweep
The Rockets stunned the Jazz in mid-January with a 116-111 victory in Salt Lake City.
The Jazz were without Donovan Mitchell who had suffered a concussion in the previous game and allowed Houston’s shooters to go largely unchallenged as the Rockets knocked down 22-45 three-point attempts in the game.
There are no secrets about the @utahjazz flaws anymore, and they were on full display in their loss to the @HoustonRockets. #TakeNote https://t.co/1dnipz11GA
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) January 20, 2022
Reserve guard Garrison Mathews scored 23 points off the bench including knocking down 5-9 threes in the victory.
However, the Rockets have struggled since beating the Jazz on the road. Houston is just 1-8 in their last nine games and has been outscored by an average of 13.3 points per.
Broadcast
The Jazz and Rockets will tip-off at 7 pm MT and can be heard on The Zone Sports Network. The game will be televised on AT&T SportsNet and FuboTV.
