Now it gets interesting. After losing Game 1, the Utah Jazz returned the favor to the Houston Rockets in Game 2 with a 116-108 win on Wednesday. The series now heads to Utah for Games 3 and 4. Will the Rockets regain the series lead this Friday? Or will Utah win their second in a row?
James Harden scored 32 points and went 9-for-22 from the field in Game 2, but his 3-point shot was off. The bearded scoring machine went just 2-for-10 from distance, though, the 3-point shooting woe was a team epidemic with the Rockets finishing with a 10-for-37 (27 percent) line from behind the arc. The Rockets are not going to stop shooting, as they live and they with their perimeter shot no matter how bad they did from range in the previous meeting. Houston leads all playoff teams with 14.6 3-pointers per game on 35.7 percent success rate, so expect the team to bomb away from deep in Salt Lake City this Friday. The Rockets’ bench has to step up, though, after getting outscored by Utah’s shock troopers in Game 2, 41-22.
The Rockets are 2-0 SU and ATS in their last two trips to Utah.
Betting on the Utah Jazz (+3.5)
Even with Donovan Mitchell (17 points, 6/21 FG) sputtering on offense, the Jazz managed to take down Houston thanks in large part to Joe Ingles’ career night. Ingles led the Jazz with 27 points and blasted the Rockets with a career-high seven 3-pointers. The Jazz out-Rocketed the Rockets, as Utah went 15-for-32 from downtown for a terrific 46.9 3-point shooting percentage. Utah also showed terrific poise when the Rockets started to cut down on the Jazz’s once 19-point lead. Utah made some timely baskets and recovered on defense to kill Houston’s momentum, something the Jazz will have to continue doing whenever Houston makes a run. Having stolen a game in Houston, the Jazz goes home with a chance to go up 2-1 in the series.
The Jazz are 7-0 SU and 4-3 ATS in their last seven games at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
