West Conf. Semis, Game 2: Utah Jazz 116-108 Houston Rockets - 5 Talking Points
Not many gave the Utah Jazz much of a chance of making a deep run when the playoffs began and here they are, having stolen home court from the Number 1 seeded Houston Rockets after Game 2. After blowing a 19-point lead and trailing by 5, the Jazz roared back in the 4th to tie this series at one apiece.
Joe Ingles led another balanced Utah attack, as they won despite the absence of Ricky Rubio. James Harden scored 32 points and had 11 assists in a losing effort.
Here are the talking points from the game:
#5 Houston's big 3 deliver, but it wasn't enough
The Rockets are probably not gonna lose too many games where Harden, CP3, and Clint Capela all score over 20, but they did this time. Harden scored 32, Chris Paul had 23 and Capela continued his strong showing in these playoffs with 21 points and 11 rebounds. The problem was the rest of the supporting cast did next to nothing apart from Eric Gordon. Gordon had 15 but shot 5/16 and the rest of the Rockets (6 players) scored just 17 points.
The Rockets also committed just 7 turnovers compared to 16 from the Jazz, which makes the loss tougher to swallow. It was the 1st quarter which killed the Rockets in all honesty. The Jazz shot 63.6% and led by 8 and this would have been a completely different ball game if not for that 1st quarter explosion. The Rockets would probably back themselves to win one of the next 2 games in Utah, but they'd be mindful of the fact that the Jazz-Thunder series flipped on its head after Game 2 and they'll have to bring their A-game to win this series.