Time had become a factor, Luc Mbah a Monte was busy assuring his 15-point fourth quarter outburst would be enough to keep his team on top and Houston took advantage of Utah’s sloppy ball handling to take advantage of 22 turnovers which proved to be the undoing of the Jazz.
Meanwhile, Utah trailed, 70-63 opening the fourth quarter. But Gerald Green’s (3-pointer) and Mbah a Monte’s layup, quickly pushed Houston’s lead to 12-points, 77-65.
As the game progressed, both teams traded points until Joe Ingles stroked a trey to pull Utah within five points, 79-74 with 8:02 left. However, the Jazz defense could never string together enough stops to post a serious run as it fell to Houston, 96-85 on Monday at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
On the other hand, James was still the same Harden, scoring 26 points, Mbah a Monte added 17. Chris Paul scored 15.
Utah trailed, 16-9 when Jonas Jerebko and Rudy Gobert jump-started a 12-2 run to take a 19-16 lead. Although Joe Johnson’s three-pointer tied the game at 19, the Jazz held a 23-19 lead after the first quarter.
By far the second quarter was Utah’s best. Jae Crowder fired a three-pointer, Alec Burks added a layup and a three-ball to increase its lead 29-19.
Utah shot 57 percent in the second quarter and took a 15-point lead twice, 40-25 and 44-29 after Derrick Favors followed up a rebound stick back and
Donovan Mitchell sliced to the basket and threw down a thunderous dunk.
Gobert totaled 17, and Donovan Michell scored 16 to lead Utah.
The Rockets shot poorly from behind the arch. During the second quarter, it was 9-of-27 with six minutes left in the quarter.
But Houston scrapped its way back into the game after the Jazz went scoreless over the next three minutes. It gave Harden time to make back-to-back steals. Chris Paul drained four free throws, and Harden fed Nene Hilario a pass that resulted in a dunk. That trimmed Utah’s lead to six points before the quarter ended.
Houston continued to chip away at the deficit in the third quarter. Utah got five points from Ricky Rubio to start the quarter which made the score, 49-42. But another Jazz cold spell followed which ended after three and a half minutes as the Rockets trailed, 49-48 with 8:33 left. The teams traded baskets with Utah leading 57-52.
Then Houston showed why its highest scoring team in the NBA when Paul found Harden for the reverse layup and Trevor Ariza downed two quick three-pointers to give Houston a 59-57 lead with 5:17 left in the third quarter.
Donovan Mitchel’s layup tied the game at 59 with under three minutes to play in the third quarter. However, The Jazz who had won 12-of-13 could not close out the game with a win.