Utah Jazz cruise past Houston Rockets to stay undefeated

The Utah Jazz improved their record to 4-0 for the young season with very little resistance. The result was not unexpected but it was still a little bit stunning to see the Jazz rollover the Rockets with such ease. It doesn’t seem like that long ago that Houston was a powerhouse in the Western Conference and a win felt like a major accomplishment. Utah took care of business in this game as they should and the encouraging thing about this game is that the Jazz looked like a team that is starting to gel & feel more comfortable with each other.

For Utah, the most encouraging individual player of the game is Eric Paschall. Paschall has been looking better & better each game & tonight in the first half it looked like he was the most comfortable that he has been in a Jazz uniform. Paschall was 3-3 with 8 points & 3 rebounds but had a huge impact outside of the box score with several energy & hustle plays. Another new Jazz player, Hassan Whiteside, played aggressively & looked solid once again with 10 points & 6 rebounds as a backup to Rudy Gobert.

The Rockets had a rough game overall but did show some fight at the end of the third quarter with an 18-2 run that cut the lead from 36 points down to 20. The Jazz re-established control early on in the 4th quarter but the Rocket’s young players showed a lot of confidence & against a team as veteran as the Utah Jazz. Jalen Green, the young Rockets prodigy, finished with 13 pts., 3 rebounds & 3 assists. Rockets center Alperen Sengun scored 14 points & showed some nice moves against Rudy Gobert throughout the game.

For the Jazz it was a great way to start off the three-game road trip & they did a great job overall of establishing their dominance early in the game & holding off any runs that the Rockets could muster. It is good to see the team get off to such a good start this season, considering that they still haven’t played their best game yet.

-Notes-

Jazz: Jared Butler finally scored his 1st NBA point in the 4th quarter, hopefully, it’s the first of many in a Jazz uniform this season.

Rockets: It doesn’t feel like Houston shoots as many threes as they used to but they went 9/41 from the 3 point line tonight for a paltry 22%. Surely Houston will have better nights but they are now 67/186 from the 3 point line on the season, good for just 36%