Utah Jazz can’t keep up with Houston Rockets, lose second straight game

SALT LAKE CITY — When the Utah Jazz play the high-powered Houston Rockets, the margin for error for the Jazz is extremely thin. A few lapses and the Rockets can grow the lead in a hurry.

Such occurred Saturday night at Vivint Arena, as the Rockets turned a three-point lead with 3:27 left in the third quarter into an 11-point advantage over the course of just 56 seconds, and Utah couldn’t mount a comeback in an eventual 120-110 loss.

The two teams are now tied for fourth in the Western Conference standings with 36-20 records, and with the season series now complete between them, Houston has won the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Jazz dropped their second straight game.

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For most of the first 33 minutes of the contest, the two sides played close before the Rockets gained separation in that quick run. Houston led 83-80 when Rockets guard Ben McLemore hit a 3-pointer, and then Jazz forward Georges Niang committed an offensive foul on the other end of the floor.

Austin Rivers made a wide-open 3-pointer in response, Mike Conley missed a floater and James Harden slithered his way to the basket for a layup before Utah head coach Quin Snyder was forced to take a timeout with his team’s deficit having reached 11.

Out of the timeout, Jordan Clarkson missed a 3-pointer and Russell Westbrook responded with a midrange jumper to extend the lead to 13, and Houston had the cushion it needed.

“You can play hard, but you’ve got to play smart as well,” said Donovan Mitchell, who led the home side with 31 points. “We did a good job of it, but we had lapses. That was the biggest thing.”

In all in the third quarter, the Rockets outscored the Jazz 38-19.

Head coach Quin Snyder and point guard Mike Conley attributed the lapse to a lack of intensity coming out of halftime.

“I thought in the third quarter we didn’t have the same energy we needed on the defensive end,” Snyder said. “We didn’t get our hands on balls for deflections, we fouled once, which tells you a little bit about our aggressiveness. There was a number of things we can point to.”

Added Conley: “We’re not good enough to just walk in games and play lackadaisical and take possessions off. Good teams like tonight will beat us. Our energy was low in the third quarter. I think we didn’t come out with the same energy that we left the first half with.”

While Houston ultimately pulled away, things were close throughout the first half. The Rockets started the contest by making eight of their first nine 3-pointers to take an eight-point lead in the opening quarter, but then started missing and Utah worked its way back into the game thanks in large part to the play of Clarkson.

After a 30-point outing the last time the two teams played, Clarkson had 20 in the first half alone as he was routinely able to get to the basket. With Harden off the floor, the Jazz even led by as many as six points in the first half and held a four-point edge at intermission, 66-62.

At the break, Utah had outscored Houston 40-22 in the paint, which countered the Rockets’ 30-15 advantage in points via the 3-pointer. The Jazz also had 12 assists to Houston’s eight at the break.

But as the third quarter began, the Rockets started to take control. They opened on a 14-3 run as Utah struggled on both ends of the floor, and the Jazz were only able to really stick around for the next few minutes until Houston made its decisive run.

“We were right there,” Mitchell said. “We were up at half, so I think it’s just a matter of just a few lapses.”

The Rockets finished the night 20 of 48 from behind the 3-point line, while the Jazz went just 7 of 31. Houston had nine steals compared to just one for Utah and had five blocks to just two for the home team.

The Jazz committed 13 turnovers to 10 for the Rockets, and Houston scored 19 fast break points to 10 for Utah. Harden and Westbrook combined for 72 points to lead the Rockets.

Up next for Utah is a game Monday at home against the Phoenix Suns.