This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Gordon Hayward began celebrating his 26th birthday on Wednesday in as much style as is possible for an NBA player about to play his biggest game of the regular season. There was a brief shootaround. He was serenaded by the Utah Jazz rookies. Assistant coach Steven Schwartz penned a hip-hop verse in his honor.

Besides that, there weren't too many smiles and laughs coming from Hayward, the Jazz small forward. A win over the Houston Rockets is all he and anyone associated with the organization really wants.

This is the chance the Jazz have been waiting for. They are currently a half-game behind the Rockets with 12 to play. The tie-breaker for the season between the two teams is at stake, which means tonight essentially counts as two games in the standings. With four teams jostling for the Western Conference's last three playoff spots, the enormity of tonight's game at the Toyota Center can't be understated.

"Yes, we're winding the season down, and this is an important game for us," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. "Houston's a great team, and they are in a similar situation as us, and we're on the road. This is a team that's played very well against us here and it's a tough matchup in a lot of ways."

For the Jazz, the focal point will be James Harden, the all-NBA shooting guard who is one of the most lethal scorers and playmakers in the league. The Jazz know he's going to score, and they are willing to live with that, as long as they make him take tough shots and keep him to a reasonable number of free-throw attempts.

Here's what they don't want: They don't want Harden scoring 30 or more points AND handing out 10 or more assists. Because that would mean that Harden is not only creating for himself, but he's creating for others as well.

"That's how they can score 130 points," Hayward said. "You don't want to let them start hitting corner threes, and letting other guys get rolling."

The Jazz are 1-1 on their current road trip, and face a difficult back-to-back matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night. That also makes tonight important, seeing the Jazz will likely have tired legs 24 hours from now.

But this is what Utah wanted this year, the chance to play meaningful games in March and April. And as regular-season games go, they don't get much more meaningful than tonight at the Toyota Center.

— Tony Jones