Jazz More Aggressive In First Half; Lead Game 3 At The Half
Apr 20, 2019, 10:02 PM
(Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – After Houston dominated the Jazz in the first quarter of Games 1 and 2, Utah bounced back with not only a big first quarter, but a nice second quarter as well.
They outscored the Rockets 30-28 in the opening period and 25-22 in the second quarter.
The Jazz got off to a great start with two great plays in a row within the first 90 seconds of the game. James Harden picked up two fouls with the second one coming off of fouling Donovan Mitchell on a three-pointer that he made.
The first big play was an alley-oop from Jae Crowder to Mitchell after stealing the ball from Harden.
That sequence fired up the crowd at VIvint Smart Home Arena as the Jazz took an early 8-0 lead.
Houston buckled down and weathered the storm from the Jazz and tied the game at 20 with 3 minutes left in the first.
Donovan Mitchell fired up the crowd once again with another three-pointer. To that point, Utah hit three triples on 11 attempts, Mitchell made two and Joe Ingles hit the other.
Mitchell finished the opening quarter with 13 points and the Jazz had a 30-28 lead.
Utah kept the aggression in the second quarter but the Rockets kept hanging with the Jazz. Midway through the second, Utah had just a one point lead.
The Jazz ended the first half with a crazy sequence of Harden stealing a cross-court pass, which was immediately snatched by Mitchell who found Ingles on the wing to hit the three-pointer with one second left. Utah took a 55-50 lead into the halftime break.
This crowd is electric 💡⚡️
(And these blocks are 😍)#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/M1gaSzNGN4
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 21, 2019
Mitchell finished with 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, including 3-of-6 from downtown.
For Houston, Chris Paul led the first half with 12 points and 4 rebounds, Harden had 6 points on 0-for-10 from the field.