SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Leaving everything out on the court and their season to play for, the Utah Jazz had a great first half, possibly the best of the series with the Rockets as they took a 53-47 lead at the break.

The Jazz got off to another good start for the second straight game as they connected on four of their first six three-pointers. Jae Crowder scored 12 of those 17 points as the Jazz led 20-15 with 6:19 left in the first quarter.

Six minutes into the game, Donovan Mitchell was forced to the bench with his second foul.

Utah went on a 6-1 run to take their largest lead of the series, 26-16 with 4:38 left in the opening period.

That lead stretched to 30-16 with 3 minutes left and the Jazz had a 32-24 advantage at the end of the quarter.

Midway through the second quarter, Houston decided to go with a smaller lineup with Danuel House, P.J. Tucker, Chris Paul, James Harden and Eric Gordon. That allowed the Rockets to space the floor and get open shots on the perimeter.

Utah had a double digit lead before the small Rockets lineup trimmed the deficit to 49-45 with 1:23 left in the half.

#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/khD8Dp3Pk5

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 23, 2019

Crowder finished the half with 18 points, Rubio added 15 points to lead the Jazz. Houston was led by Harden with 13 points on 4-for-11 shooting. Paul and Tucker each dropped 11 points.