(1) ROCKETS V. (5) JAZZ
GAME 1 - SEMIFINALS
UTA 96 @ HOU 110
The Utah Jazz played some inspiring and stifling defense against OKC in the first round; that didn't exactly transfer to Houston, Texas tonight.
James Harden 9 times out of 10 is going to get his, no matter what type of defense you play against him. Tonight was one of those nights, as Harden poured in 41 points (along with 8 rebounds and 7 assists) with a game high 7 three-pointers.
But the story tonight wasn't solely James Harden, it was the fluidity of the Houston offense and the contributions displayed by 'others,' such as Tucker and Capela.
PJ Tucker played phenomenal (15 points and 3 rebounds), knocking down 3 huge three-pointers during timely possessions.
Capela was also dominant in the paint, exerting his usual energy around the glass and finishing oops thrown by Paul or Harden. His activity around the rim led to a nice slam on Gobert in the second as well. Gobert has certainly been struggling a bit this postseason on the defensive end.
Clint Capela
GM 1: 16 points, 12 rebounds
Utah had some very key contributions from Jae Crowder (21 and 5), Raul Neto (played poised basketball in 8 minutes off the bench), and Dante Exum, so while they start the series off with a loss, the production from their bench should be inspiring going forward.
Crowder looks the most comfortable he's been all season (including Cleveland), and has stepped up as a vocal leader and enforcer on the defensive end, as well as knocking down the 3-ball (five of them tonight.)
Exum has seen an uptick in minutes due to the untimely injury to Ricky Rubio, and has stepped up accordingly. Exum's career started with high expectations (some as astronomical as comparisons to Penny Hardaway) and while a large share of misfortune is due to injury-after-injury, his expectations have tempered severely.
Now relegated to backup point guard status, Exum seems to be playing more free with his defined role, controlling the tempo, running sets, and attacking when necessary. The Jazz still desperately miss Rubio, but Exum has been solid in the playoffs thus far.
Game 2 Outlook
Maybe the Jazz were experiencing a game 6 win hangover with the quick turnaround Sunday night, but they will look to regroup and focus on minimizing their game-high 18 turnovers which was converted into 22 points by the Rockets.
Also to note, Mitchell had his right ankle twisted and stepped late in the 4th quarter; the Jazz staff claim he's fine as he was able to finish out the game but hopefully he doesn't experience any residual pain and swelling over the next few days.
Game 2 is on Wednesday, May 2nd.