The Houston Rockets had their momentum derailed on Saturday and now hope they can make a quick return to the win column. The Utah Jazz, meanwhile, look to stay in rhythm after a skid-snapping victory.
The two last met on January 28th, where the Rockets won, 126-117, despite James Harden and Russell Westbrook both sitting out.
HOME TEAM: Houston Rockets (33-19, 18-7 at home)
The Rockets’ super small-ball line-up, which is now without Clint Capela, split its first two games. After upsetting the Los Angeles Lakers on the road, they got destroyed by the Phoenix Suns, 127-91, and were minus 22 on rebounds.
Eric Gordon was the key man in that aforementioned win two weeks back. He punished the Jazz defense for a career-high 50 points on 14-for-22 shooting and making 16 of his 20 shots from the charity stripe. The veteran will return to taking a backseat as the Harden and Westbrook tandem is present tomorrow, but he’ll remain as a threat from the outside.
Harden (31.5 PPG, 8.3 APG, 1.5 SPG in his last four) and Westbrook (35.2 PPG, 7.3 APG, 1.7 SPG, 51.5 FG% in his last six) are on an awesome stretch, and they are in good position to continue the run.
ROAD TEAM: Utah Jazz (33-18, 14-13 on the road)
The Jazz ended their five-game losing streak Saturday with a squeaky and controversial 117-114 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. It was a good effort that saw them climb out of a 16-point deficit in the second half.
The backcourt of Donovan Mitchell (24.3 PPG) and Bojan Bogdanovic (21.2 PPG) is once again eyed to produce a boatload of buckets. In the previous meeting, the two scored 36 and 30 points, respectively, but was unable to get enough help from others, including Rudy Gobert, who only took five shots in 37 minutes of action.
Gobert (14.6 PPG, 14.4 RPG, 2 BPG) has an excellent chance to make up for his quiet offensive night as he can tower over Houston’s small-ball rotation.
PREDICTION:
The Jazz easily win the rebounding battle through Gobert, who might snag 100 rebounds. In the end, though, the Rockets get win through their bread-and-butter: the run-and-gun offense. Harden and Westbrook are playing well as of late and I expect it to carry on tomorrow in a 118-114 victory.
