Just when the Utah Jazz had made things interesting by taking Game 2 against Houston on Wednesday to even their second-round series at 1-1, the Rockets came back with a vengeance Friday night with a 113-92 blowout victory to take back command of the series.
The Rockets were on fire early and raced out to a 20-point lead in the first quarter and never looked back from there behind hot shooting from Eric Gordon, who scored 17 points in the first half on 6-of-8 from the field, including 3-of-5 from downtown. He finished with a game-high 25.
James Harden likewise added 25 points and 12 assists for the Rockets, while Chris Paul chipped in 15 points of his own, to go along with seven rebounds, six assists, and zero turnovers.
What. A. Response. 😳@HoustonRockets blast off in Game 3 and roll past Utah 113-92 to take a 2-1 series lead! 🚀#NBAPlayoffs | #Rockets pic.twitter.com/moOGqfIbeI
— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 5, 2018
Star rookie Donovan Mitchell struggled for most of the night, going just 1-of-10 from the field in the first half, and it didn’t get much better from there as he finished with 10 points on brutal 4-of-16 shooting overall.
The Jazz went on a modest 9-0 run midway through the second quarter to cut the lead to 15, thanks in part to Royce O’Neale, who put up seven points in just nine minutes during one first-half stretch and finished with a team-high 17 for the game. But the Rockets’ lead eventually ballooned to 30 by halftime on a 21-6 run of their own.
Utah struggled from wire to wire, as they committed 16 turnovers on the night and just never managed to gain any traction after Houston raced out to an early lead. The Jazz will have a chance to tie the series in Game 4 back in Salt Lake City on Sunday before heading back to Houston for Game 5.
