Jazz Down 26 At Halftime To Rockets
Apr 17, 2019, 8:54 PM
(Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
(Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, Texas – The first half of Game 2 of the first round of the Western Conference was one to forget for the Utah Jazz. At the break, the Houston Rockets led 70-44.
Things started poorly for Utah and never really picked up as Houston roared to a commanding lead.
To start the game, the Jazz committed back-to-back turnovers on their first two possessions with the ball. From there, the ball security continued to be an issue as the Jazz surrendered the ball nine times, allowing 15 points off the miscues.
at the break pic.twitter.com/7ZVJHEIdxO
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 18, 2019
While the Jazz’s offense sputtered, Houston’s was red hot, led by MVP candidate James Harden. The NBA’s leading scorer in the regular season, Harden turned in 25 points with five 3-pointers made in the first half. He also flirted with a triple-double with seven assists and six rebounds.
As a team, the Rockets were terrific at the same things that the Jazz did poorly. Houston shot 50 percent with 13 makes from beyond the arc. Utah shot a miserable 18.2 percent from 3-point land in the opening half.
Donovan Mitchell had just nine points on 4-for-14 shooting.
Rudy Gobert had six points and eight rebounds.
Royce with 1️⃣0️⃣ points#MACU3 | @mountainamerica pic.twitter.com/clquDtc81b
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 18, 2019
Royce O’Neale led the Jazz in scoring with 10 points.
The Jazz came into the game trailing 1-0 in the series after a 122-90 victory by Houston in Game 1.
