As their own shots clanged relentlessly off the rim, the Jazz grew frustrated. As James Harden piled up the free-throw attempts, while seemingly getting leniency for his own transgressions on the other end, they grew more frustrated still.
The resulting lack of focus — to say nothing of the lack of made shots — proved costly.
By the end of the second quarter, the wheels were starting to come off. By midway through the third, they were wobbling on the rims. And by game’s end, a largely listless and lifeless performance resulted in a 125-98 loss to the Rockets on Saturday night at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
With Harden breaking the 30-point barrier for the 26th consecutive game, and with Utah connecting on just 36 percent of its shots and committing 23 turnovers, the Jazz dropped to 30-24 on the season.
A constant theme afterward was that Rockets were more physical, more aggressive throughout, and thus were able to impose their will on the game.
“We just weren’t playing with force at all. We were playing on our heels all night,” said Jae Crowder. “Those guys did good job of coming in and dictating the game, being physical.”
The game started with Joe Ingles draining a wide-open 3 on the game’s first possession. It would not prove a harbinger of things to come, however.
The Jazz missed their next five shots, and Houston capitalized by going on a 9-0 run.
While the Jazz briefly bounced back, a series of mental lapses and bad shots resulted in a 10-0 Rockets run to end the quarter.
The Jazz should have been able to get going offensively after getting Houston into the penalty inside of two minutes into the second quarter, but they made only a handful of trips to the line thereafter.
Still, Utah held on through seven minutes of the period, rallying, retaking the lead, falling behind again, and repeating the process. But their last lead of the game came at 44-43 with 5:35 left til halftime. The Rockets had yet another surge, closing on a 20-6 run, taking a 13-point lead at the break, and never being in any trouble thereafter.
“They were the most physical team tonight, the most aggressive. The way they played defense, it took us out of what we do,” said Rudy Gobert.
It was pretty much a full group collapse on the Jazz’s part, with rare exceptions.
Donovan Mitchell had five first-quarter assists, but routinely forced up bad shots, starting off just 1 for 9 from the field. He totaled 26 points and nine assists in the end, but made just 7 for 24.
Gobert, the team’s emotional anchor the night before in a win against Atlanta, was routinely out-hustled by the Rockets’ fill-in center, the 6-foot-8 Kenneth Faried, who totaled 16 points and 12 boards in 20 foul-plagued minutes. (Gobert shot 3 of 8, for 10 points and 13 rebounds.)
Point guard Ricky Rubio, the subject of myriad trade rumors, played a largely passive game, totaling six points and seven assists, while shooting 0 of 4 from the field.
The starting forwards, Ingles and Crowder, were a combined 8 for 25 shooting.
“Tonight was one of those nights where we couldn’t make anything as a team. We had a really tough shooting night again,” said Kyle Korver. “… We really just needed to hit some shots just to let it open up a little bit more, make the driving lanes a little bit bigger. We just weren’t really able to get in a rhythm at any point during the game.”
Meanwhile, Harden had zero issues in that regard.
The reigning league Most Valuable Player had 16 points in the first quarter and 29 in the first half. He wound up making 12 of 22 shots, 15 of 15 free throws, and totaling 43 points, 11 rebounds, six steals, five assists, and four blocks.
Snyder conceded there wasn’t much his team could do with the Rockets star.
“He’s very difficult to guard. He’s so efficient. To be as aggressive as he is right now and also to be as efficient and poised, it never feels like he’s selfish,” he said. “It just feels like he’s making the right play all the time. And a lot of times, the right play is him shooting the ball. He’s playing at a level that is rare.”
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