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SLIDESHOW: Utah Jazz vs Houston Rockets
SALT LAKE CITY —— No Yao Ming.
No Tracy McGrady.
No way the Jazz should lose this one, right?
Oops, not so fast.
Despite not having their two best-known stars, the Houston Rockets dominated the Jazz on Monday, whipping them 113-96 in front of a cranky crowd on their home floor.
Midway through the fourth quarter, after the Rockets broke off a decisive 17-2 run, the EnergySolutions Arena crowd began booing loudly. Following a Houston timeout with 3:44 left to play, fans began a mass exodus, many of them voicing their displeasure as the headed for the exits.
“We haven’t played a good game of basketball yet,” said Jazz point guard Deron Williams. “It doesn’t look too good from the inside, I’m sure it doesn’t look too good from the outside. Any time it’s the third game of the season and you’re getting booed in your home arena, it doesn’t feel too good.”
Utah (1-2) put forth a lackluster performance from the start. Even so, the Jazz scored the first two baskets in the fourth quarter, taking an 80-79 lead with 10 minutes remaining.
Still itching to get excited for the first time all evening, the crowd tried to fuel the Jazz. But it didn’t last long; not after the Rockets mounted a 13-0 run over a 2:15 span.
That run later went to 17-2, then 22-6.
Houston (3-1) saw all five of its starters reach double figures, plus three reserves.
Speedy point guard Aaron Brooks led the attack, scoring 19 points while dishing out nine assists.
Forward Luis Scola added 14 points, 15 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots, while rookie reserve Chase Budinger scored 17, easily a career high.
Budinger scored 10 of his 17 in the fourth quarter.
Jazz players went into the game believing they needed to turn up their defensive aggressiveness after two spotty performances against Denver and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Instead, they struggled to keep up with Houston’s undersized-but-quick lineup.
The Rockets shot 50 percent from the floor for the game, including 69 percent during the decisive fourth quarter.
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan lauded the Rockets’ effort, while lamenting his players’.
“I think (the Rockets) did a terrific job,” he said. “They put all kinds of pressure on us the way they pushed the ball up the floor. We gave away 26 points on 19 turnovers, pretty tough to play against anybody.”
Back on the court after missing a game with a sprained left knee and ankle, Utah center Mehmet Okur led all scorers with 21 points on 9-for-13 shooting.
Guard Ronnie Brewer added 19 points and Williams finished with 18, plus eight assists and six rebounds.
Power forward Carlos Boozer scored seven points on 1-for-6 shooting. However, he managed to grab 11 rebounds.
Through the first three games of the season, Boozer has shot 13-for-42 from the field, but is 13-for-17 from the free throw line.
Like Sloan, Boozer gave credit to the Rockets.
“I don’t think we took them lightly, I just think they brought it to us,” he said. “I’m not going to take anything away from them. They played hard, executed their gameplan. But we just didn’t do a good job on both sides of the ball and that’s the reason why we lost.”
The Jazz won’t have much time to lament Monday’s loss. They left for Dallas shortly after the game and will face the Mavericks tonight.
“One thing about this business, you don’t have all day to feel sorry for yourself,” Sloan said. “You’ve got to look and see who you play tomorrow. Your job is to do the best you can and move forward.”
“I thought tonight we had maybe the best ball movement we’ve had all year,” coach Rick Adelman said. “The 29 assists could have been a lot more. Everyone was moving the ball well.”
Utah rookie Wes Matthews scored his first NBA points on a layup with 10:08 left in the second quarter.
