The Utah Jazz, now 4-0 on the season, had no problem beating the Houston Rockets 122-91 on the road on Thursday night.
High notes
- When Joe Ingles is shooting the ball a lot the Jazz are going to be in a good spot. He was firing early and he was on. It feels like when Ingles is aggressively shooting earlier in the game the Jazz settle into a better rhythm than when he isn’t. He finished with 14 points, going 4-of-9 from 3-point range.
It seems like every single game there is something new to like about what Eric Paschall brings to the Jazz. We saw a little bit more offensive aggression and some strength on the boards and sacrificing his body for the play. It’s that kind of stuff that is going to make Quin Snyder’s job even harder when Rudy Gay is cleared to play. But hey, that’s a good problem to have.
“We all know what he’s capable of and he’s a great guy. He got a couple of easy ones after getting offensive rebounds. Just great, great energy.” — Bojan Bogdanovic on Eric Paschall
- In the opening minute of the fourth quarter Jordan Clarkson drove into traffic and in the second that he was off the floor, in what was originally going to be a move for a layup, he noticed Rudy Gobert behind him and hooked the basketball around to Gobert who got the easy dunk. These are the kind of plays that are almost expected out of ball-handling guards in the NBA, but I don’t think that players get enough credit for the recognition and decision-making they’re able to accomplish in a split second.
- Jared Butler scored his first NBA point when he hit a free throw in the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets. He later hit a field goal to get his first live points. It probably took a little longer than he had originally thought it would, but he’s no longer scoreless in his NBA career.
- It was Filipino heritage night at the Toyota Center in Houston and with Jordan Clarkson and Jalen Green it marked the first time in NBA history that two players of Filipino heritage shared the court. That’s a cool thing!
The Jazz had seven players score in double figures against the Rockets — Bojan Bogdanovic, Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, Ingles, Clarkson, Hassan Whiteside and Paschall. Not a bad night.
“It’s the best we’ve run and shared the ball.” — Jazz head coach Quin Snyder
Low notes
- Such a weirdly quiet night for Mike Conley. Just six points on 2-of-7 for the night. He did have four assists which was his per game average through last season, but all in all it was just a quiet night for him. This all has to come with the caveat that the Jazz didn’t need a big night from Conley and had more than enough from everyone else to make easy work of the Rockets.
- The Rockets halftime entertainment was a karaoke contest. That’s already a low-rent idea, but the first of three contestants couldn’t be heard until about 20 seconds into her song because the mic didn’t work. Not great.
Flat notes
- I was surprised at how small Green looked. He’s clearly going to be a good player, but it’s going to take a while for him to bulk up to NBA size and get used to being pushed around by the more brawny guys in the league.
- It’s hard not to feel bad for guys like Christian Wood, who was getting better and better with every year and it earned him him a bigger contract in the sign-and-trade that brought him to Houston from Detroit. Is he going to get a chance to be on a good team at all during his prime? Probably not if he stays in Houston.