One of the most stunning developments of the NBA playoffs so far has been just how vulnerable some of the top teams in each conference have looked through the first few games of the opening round. We’ve seen the Sixers, Raptors, and Nuggets all sputter out of the gate, followed by the Warriors’ historic, humiliating collapse against a feisty Clippers squad that is the early darling of the postseason.
The Houston Rockets, however, have wholly evaded those issues, as they cruised to a second straight blowout win over the Jazz in Game 2 with a breezy 118-98 victory. It was more of the same on Wednesday night from James Harden as he logged a monster triple-double: 32 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists (and eight turnovers, but who’s counting?) in yet another MVP-caliber effort.
The Jazz’s admirable, yet misguided, tactic of trying to force Harden right all night — co-opted from the Bucks, who executed said strategy to modest success — simply hasn’t worked out the way they thought it would. Instead, it’s left poor, sweet Ricky Rubio in the torture chamber, where Harden has done mean, awful things to him.
https://twitter.com/DimeUPROXX/status/1118694716890066944
It quite nearly resulted in an all-time highlight-reel play that, had Harden converted the ensuing shot, would’ve made Wesley Johnson look like an all-world defender by comparison.
James Harden went for maximum disrespect points 😳
📹: @NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/6s9YhWZiAg
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) April 18, 2019
The Rockets got 16 points apiece from P.J. Tucker and Eric Gordon, 17 points from Chris Paul, and some stellar rim protection from Clint Capela in the win.
Clint Capela, shot eraser. https://t.co/fw2YhhiLUb
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) April 18, 2019
They also got some help from Utah, who shot an abysmal 8-of-38 from three-point range, and just 39 percent from the field overall for the night. Rubio, despite having to withstand Harden’s onslaught all night, led the way for the Jazz with 17 points and nine assists, while Donovan Mitchell’s shooting woes continued as he went 5-of-19 on the night for 11 points.
The Jazz will now try and regroup and see if they can make this series as they head to Utah for Game 3 on Saturday.
