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Houston • Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni says even he has been a little surprised by what James Harden has been able to do since being handed the keys to Houston's new high-octane offense.
"He's done more [than I expected] because his numbers are historic," D'Antoni says. "I don't think anyone could envision that."
At this point, however, pretty much everyone can see it coming, though few — including the Utah Jazz on Saturday afternoon — can stop it.
Harden poured in a game-high 31 points and dished out 10 assists to beat the Jazz 111-102 at Toyota Center.
"He's doing everything," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said of Harden, who has a chance to become the first player to lead the NBA in both scoring and assists since Nate Archibald in 1973.
Harden set the tone early in the weekend matinee. Staring down all 7-feet, 1-inch of Jazz center Rudy Gobert, one of the league's best defenders, the bearded Harden sized up his outsized opponent and coolly knocked down a step-back jumper to open the scoring. He would go on to finish the first quarter with 15 points.
The Jazz, meanwhile, looked lifeless in the early goings.
"We were flat on both ends," said Gobert.
"We weren't moving the ball. We weren't moving our bodies, myself included," said Jazz guard Rodney Hood, who finished with a team-high 25 points. "We were jogging up the court at times."
The Rockets closed the first quarter with a 7-2 burst to go up by six and later reeled off an 18-8 run in the second — capped by Harden driving and dishing to center Clint Capela for a dunk and two of his 20 points — to push the Houston lead to 16.
The Jazz cut the advantage to five midway through the third quarter, before Harden went on a personal 5-0 run to reclaim a double-digit advantage.
Utah got solid play from forward Trey Lyles, who came alive in the second half to finish with 21 points and five rebounds. Gobert had a 12-point, 14-rebound double-double. And point guard Danté Exum scored 10 points starting again in place of the injured George Hill.
"It wasn't so much our energy but just our mindset, we talked about just attacking," Snyder said of his team's halftime adjustments. "You can't play tentatively, especially Gordon [Hayward] and Rodney."
But the Jazz couldn't make up enough ground in the end.
Houston took advantage of 14 Utah turnovers and attempted 18 more shots than the Jazz. The Rockets bench outscored the Jazz reserves 44-24, meanwhile, led by a 20-point effort from guard Eric Gordon.
Still, it was Harden who supplied the punctuation and an image the Jazz (7-7) will carry with them as the head to Denver for a Sunday game with the Nuggets.
With the shot clock winding down late in the fourth quarter, the guard fired up his final shot of the game, sinking a 3-pointer, then turning and walking the length of the court with his arms raised high in the air.
Twitter: @aaronfalk —
Storylines
R Gordon Hayward finishes the game with 9 points on 4-of-13 shooting after making just one of his seven field goal attempts in the first half.
• James Harden, the NBA's leading assist man, dishes 10 dimes against the Jazz without a turnover.