Chris Paul moves one step closer to the Conference Finals: 3 takeaways

The Rockets backcourt combined for 51 points to bring their team to within one win of the conference finals.

Chris Paul and James Harden were too much for the Utah Jazz on Sunday night, dominating the game from the opening tip to the final buzzer in a 100-87 win.

Clint Capela was huge for the Rockets as well, finishing with a double-double, with 12 points, 15 rebounds, and six blocks, leading a defensive effort that held the Jazz to just 38 percent shooting from the field.

Donovan Mitchell had a nice second quarter, but fouled out in the final minute of the game after scoring 25 points to lead the Jazz in points for the game. Joe Ingles had 15 points in 41 minutes, but no one on the Jazz roster had more than two 3-point makes on a night where they just couldn’t get into a sustained rhythm on offense.

Royce O’Neale got the start again for the Jazz, but collided with James Harden early in the first quarter, and although he tried to run off the contact, he would have to get checked out by the Jazz medical team in the locker room. Dante Exum subbed in for O’Neale, and had a couple baskets to help kick start the offense after a slow start.

The Rockets were able to continue to attack the rim on offense, with Harden attempting seven free throws in the first 12 minutes. The Jazz looked to be making a conscious decision to attack early in the shot clock, increasing the pace to match the Rockets pace on offense. The Rockets were able to finish the quarter with a 30-23 advantage, and the Jazz looked a little scrambled on both ends, with Donovan Mitchell finishing the quarter with just two points.

Harden got some rest to start the second quarter, while Chris Paul came back on the court to lead the reserves. It took the Jazz over two minutes to score in the second quarter, with Jae Crowder knocking in a much-needed 3-pointer. The Rockets defense would hold them without a field goal for the next two minutes, and Quin Snyder had to call a timeout to try to organize his team, facing a 12-point deficit.

The Jazz continued to struggle to score, missing scoring opportunities like a 3-on-1 with just James Harden back, with Joe Ingles missing an uncontested layup. The Rockets would counter layups by the Jazz with 3-pointers, and their lead continued to increase. The Jazz offense started to show a little bit of life, and the crowd began getting back into the game, following a layup by Mitchell. O’Neale had returned from the locker room, and had a couple big plays in transition, including a big dunk that kicked up the energy level on the court.

P.J. Tucker committed a flagrant foul on a closeout against Joe Ingles, swatting Ingles in the face after biting on a pump fake in a play that was called correctly by the officials. Mitchell was able to score on Tucker in isolation again, using his quick spin move to get past the veteran forward, getting fouled and completing the and one from the free throw line.

Paul and Harden took over to finish the quarter, helping keep some space between the Rockets and the Jazz, finishing the quarter with 30 points combined. Mitchell had 13 points in the quarter, injecting a little bit of swagger into the Utah lineup, but Houston won the quarter regardless, and went into halftime with a 10 point lead.

The Rockets’ guards continued to attack in the third quarter, maneuvering their way into the paint and around screens to get off shot attempts. The Jazz struggled with turnovers throughout the quarter, giving the Rockets extra possessions in a game where they couldn’t afford to lose any. Dante Exum had to go to the locker room after suffering a leg injury that left him in considerable pain, with the young guard hobbling off the court before collapsing in the tunnel. An alley-oop from Harden to Capela bumped the lead up to 17 points for the Rockets, and the offense was taking advantage of the gifts the Jazz kept giving to them.

Houston was able to respond every time Utah tried to take a step forward, and they were able to end the quarter with a 79-65 lead.

The chippiness of the game increased (somehow) in the fourth quarter, with both teams being physical with each other. Things were beginning to get out of hand in the minds of the officials, and they handed out technical fouls to Clint Capela, Mitchell, and Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni. Both teams continued to attack the rim after the technical, trading dunks and layups before a 3-pointer by Trevor Ariza to push the lead back up to 10 points.

The Jazz weren’t able to complete a rally in the final minutes, and Harden clinched the game with a drive against Mitchell, drawing the foul and making the basket. Capela blocked a couple shots down the stretch, capping an emotional win on the road, and the Rockets would win 100-87 on Chris Paul’s 33rd birthday.

Takeaways

Utah has lived and died by the 3-point line. The Jazz missed 22 of their 29 3-point attempts, after having so much success from the 3-point line in Game 2, and the inability to score from the perimeter limited their ability to keep up or close the gap on the Rockets. While Paul and Harden were able to get points in the midrange game or at the free throw line, the Jazz weren’t able to make any headway throughout the game. Now they’re going to have to have a big night from the perimeter to bring the series back to Utah.

The Rockets defense is for real. They were constantly able to make things extremely difficult for the Jazz. Whether it was denying Gobert on the offensive glass, closing out aggressively on 3-point shooters, or snuffing out the ballhandler in the pick and roll game, they came to play in the first game in Salt Lake City for the series.

The ability to defend and eliminate offensive possessions is one of the underrated talents of this Rockets team. They’ll need to continue to play like that to win this series and advance past the conference finals.

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Chris Paul is one win away from the conference finals. Paul has played in 85 playoff games without making the conference finals, and after the win tonight, the record could stand at 86 games until the next player makes a run at it. It’s been a long road for one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game, but with one more victory, he’ll finally have accomplished a career goal, and find himself only four wins away from his first NBA Finals. All Houston has to do is not flop away their next game in the series.