HOUSTON, Texas – Lauri Markkanen opened the first quarter on a tear for the Jazz. He scored 10 of the first 14 points for Utah.

Lauri with 10 points already—making Walker’s campaign manager job an easy one 😉

VOTE: https://t.co/GBFto2wL6k pic.twitter.com/Jnstr8gvDV

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 6, 2023

After a timeout early-on from Houston, Markkanen continued his dominance. He went on to score 18 of Utah’s first 27 points, shooting 7 for 9 from the field and 4/6 from deep.

In the holiday season, Markkanen has been putting the Jazz on his back. He is 6th in the NBA in scoring since December 20th.

Jazz Hurt By Close Losses

Though the Jazz have lost five consecutive games, they’ve been outscored by a total of just 15 points during the stretch.

On Tuesday the Jazz were robbed of a win over the Sacramento Kings by a tenth of a second as Lauri Markkanen’s would-be game-winning three-pointer was waived off as the ball was still on his fingertips as time expired.

On New Year’s Eve, Miami Heat forward Tyler Herro hit a running three to sink the Jazz 126-123 at the buzzer.

Before the two losses at home, the Jazz fell by one in Sacramento as Markkanen missed a potential game-winner, lost by three at Golden State as they surrendered a double-digit second half lead, and lost by four at San Antonio despite a furious rally late in the game.

The Jazz will be without guard Collin Sexton for the second-consecutive game as he continues injury maintenance on his right hamstring.

Rockets Own Worst Record In West

Like the Jazz, the Rockets are riding their own five-game losing streak, and have lost 10 of 11 overall.

Houston last won a game on December 26 over the Chicago Bulls but have struggled badly since.

Unlike the Jazz, Houston has been blown out in four of their last five games including a 119-108 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.

The Rockets trailed by 25 entering the fourth quarter before outscoring New Orleans 35-21 with the game already out of hand.

With a loss, the Rockets could pull even with the idle Charlotte Hornets for the worst record in the NBA at 10-29.

Houston did hand the Jazz their first loss of the season, 114-108, on October 24.

Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets Broadcast

The Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets will tip off at 6 pm MT. The game will be televised on AT&T SportsNet and can be heard on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. It can also be streamed on DirecTV Stream and FuboTV.

Chandler Holt is a Digital Sports Producer for KSLSports.com, specializing in all things basketball and football. Follow Chandler on Twitter at @ChandlerHoltKSL.