In a series where their shots were not falling like normal, the Houston Rockets managed to close it out with some tough defense.
James Harden on Wednesday night scored 26 points as the Rockets outlasted the Utah Jazz 100-93 to win their first-round playoff series 4-1.
Houston advanced to the semi-finals for the third straight season and are to face the winner of the Los Angeles Clippers-Golden State Warriors series.
Photo: AFP
The Rockets had 12 steals and 12 blocks, the first playoff game where they had double figures in both since Game 5 of the 1994 Western Conference finals — just before they went on to win their first title.
“We didn’t make as many shots as we wanted to ... but these last few games we hung our hat on defense,” Harden said.
Ricky Rubio cut Houston’s lead to 94-93 on a jump shot with about a minute left.
P.J. Tucker missed two free throws, but grabbed a loose ball seconds later and was fouled again. This time he made both shots to make it 96-93.
Harden blocked a shot by Ruby Gobert on Utah’s next possession and he made two free throws to extend the lead to 98-93 with 38 seconds left.
Donovan Mitchell, who was just four of 22, missed a three-pointer after that and Chris Paul added two more free throws to secure the victory.
“We didn’t want to go back to Utah,” Paul said. “We wanted to take care of business tonight. All night we were talking about energy. It’s always hard to beat a team and close them out.”
The Rockets got a solid game from Clint Capela, who had 16 points and 10 rebounds. He acknowledged having trouble breathing in the Game 4 loss because of an upper respiratory infection and was held to just four points.
“I felt a lot better,” Capela said. “I definitely felt like another person than [I did in] the last game.”
After scoring 31 points to lead Utah to the victory in Game 4, Mitchell managed just 12 points on a night he missed all nine of his three-point attempts.
“I’m upset, but I’m going to be better,” the second-year player said. “Simply put: I wasn’t tonight and I’ll be better.”
Harden struggled to get going early and did not score in the first quarter, but after missing his first seven shots and 11 of his first 12 attempts, he finally found a rhythm.
Royce O’Neal came off the bench to lead Utah with 18 points, Rubio had 17 and Jae Crowder added 15.
Gobert was not much of a factor, scoring just nine points with 10 rebounds.
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