{"id":64431,"date":"2018-04-30T08:00:36","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T08:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=64431"},"modified":"2018-04-30T08:00:36","modified_gmt":"2018-04-30T08:00:36","slug":"james-harden-rockets-dominate-upstart-jazz-in-game-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/james-harden-rockets-dominate-upstart-jazz-in-game-1.html","title":{"rendered":"James Harden, Rockets dominate upstart Jazz in Game 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

James Harden, Rockets dominate upstart Jazz in Game 1<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

James Harden proved once again that Utah\u2019s vaunted defense was no match for him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Harden scored 41 points and the Houston Rockets raced out to a huge lead and sailed to a 110-96 win over the Jazz in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Houston was up by 25 at halftime behind 34 points combined from Harden and Chris Paul. The Jazz, who didn\u2019t wrap up their first-round series with Oklahoma City until late Friday night, looked sluggish and struggled to keep pace with the top-seeded Rockets, who hadn\u2019t played since eliminating Minnesota on Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Jazz tied for second in the NBA in the regular season by allowing just 99.8 points, but failed to stop Harden in any of their meetings. Harden, who also had seven assists and eight rebounds, picked up where he left off in the regular season against the Jazz when he averaged 34.3 points, led by a 56-point performance in a 137-110 win in November.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n“Their defense is really good \u2014 their defense is super,” Houston coach Mike D\u2019Antoni said. “But James is James.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Utah coach Quin Snyder seemed at a loss as to how to limit the MVP front-runner, who had the sixth 40-point playoff game of his career.<\/span><\/p>\n

“He\u2019s a special player,” Snyder said. “It\u2019s hard to give credit to all the things that he does. He just impacts the game in so many ways. You have to try to make it harder for him.”<\/span><\/p>\n

It was Houston\u2019s fourth straight win by 10 or more points this postseason, and the Rockets have won their five games against the Jazz by an average of 16.8 points.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We\u2019re different,” Harden said. “We\u2019ve seen so many different defenses throughout this year that have prepared us for this moment.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The Jazz got 21 points each from rookie Donovan Mitchell and Jae Crowder while playing without starting point guard Ricky Rubio, who sat with a strained left hamstring. It was a significant blow after he averaged 14 points, 7.3 rebounds 7.0 assists in the first round.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Jazz refused to blame their tough game on the fact that they didn\u2019t have much of a break between the first and second round.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It\u2019s a quick turnaround obviously and there\u2019s some fatigue,” Mitchell said. \u201cBut that wasn\u2019t the reason for the performance.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rockets had 10 3-pointers by halftime, led by three apiece from Harden and P.J. Tucker. They finished with 17, including seven from Harden, which tied his career-high for a playoff game.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Rockets were up by 18 entering the fourth after Paul hit a 3-pointer at the end of the third. Utah scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to get within 86-75, but Harden made three free throws over the next minute to end the run.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rudy Gobert, who had 11 points and nine rebounds, had a dunk after that, but a 3-pointer by Harden extended Houston\u2019s lead to 92-77 with about 8\u00bd minutes left.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mitchell was shaken up when Eric Gordon stepped on his ankle as he drove to the basket with about 5\u00bd minutes remaining. He stayed on the court for a second holding his ankle before hopping up and walking gingerly to the bench. But remained on the bench for just a few seconds before returning and said after the game that he was OK.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both the Rockets and the fifth-seeded Jazz are in the semifinals for the second straight year. The Rockets, who beat the Timberwolves in five games to advance, lost to the Spurs last season, and Utah was eliminated by Golden State.<\/span><\/p>\n

TIP-INS: Jazz \u2014 Royce O\u2019Neale started in place of Rubio and finished with four points and four assists. \u2026 The Jazz haven\u2019t said how long Rubio will be out, but multiple reports have indicated that it could be as many as 10 days. \u2026 Joe Ingles had 15 points.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rockets \u2014 Luc Mbah a Moute had three points and three rebounds in his first postseason action this season. He had been out since dislocating his right shoulder on April 10. \u2026 Clint Capela had 16 points and 12 rebounds for his third straight double-double. \u2026 Paul finished with 17 points, four steals and six assists.<\/span><\/p>\n

HE SAID IT: Paul on his relationship with Mitchell and any advice he\u2019s given him since the start of the postseason \u2014 “He\u2019s playing great on his own. So I ain\u2019t got nothing for him.”<\/span><\/p>\n

UP NEXT: The Rockets host Game 2 on Wednesday night before the series shifts to Utah for two games.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nba\/playoffs\/2018\/04\/29\/james-harden-rockets-dominate-jazz-game-1\/563287002\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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