Houston Falls to Utah After Halfhearted Fourth Quarter

The Houston Rockets lost to the Utah Jazz 124-115. Alperen Sengun stood out with 27 points.

Houston got off to an electrifying start on an 8-0 run. Utah made a presence and went on a run of their own early on in the first quarter. Ime Udoka decided to call a timeout after his team cooled down about halfway into the period. Jalen Green had nine points in 10 minutes. Keyonte George's ability to score and create his own looks kept the Jazz in the game, helping them lead 29-28 after the first quarter. He got on the court and immediately got hot for Utah, scoring 11 points in just six minutes.

George stayed hot to start the second quarter, using his speed to draw a foul getting to the free-throw line, followed by a big three of his own as well. Udoka got heated as Houston was not able to contain Utah's guard and called a timeout early into the period. Amen Thompson took the role of defending George out of the break. The Rockets and Jazz battled throughout the period, trading buckets with each other for the majority. Alperen Sengun ended the first half with 18 points, Green finished the first 24 minutes with 12 points, and Thompson scored 14 as Houston led 62-56. George had 20 off of the bench for Utah.

Both teams' offenses were rolling to start the third quarter, but Utah was able to stay close with Houston and cut the lead down to one, causing Udoka to call a timeout midway through the period. Jeff Green scored 11 of his 16 points in the quarter, helping the Rockets maintain their lead after going bucket for bucket with the Jazz throughout the 12 minutes. Houston led 90-87 at the end of the third period.

Thompson started the fourth quarter with a side-step three to put Houston up by six points. Udoka called a timeout early in the period again after Utah gained momentum, and their fans were electrified by a fast-break layup from Johnny Juzang. The Jazz gained a one-point lead after Sengun missed a layup and George followed up with a three-pointer. After not hitting a shot in four minutes and turning the ball over leading to another fast-break layup from Juzang, Utah gained their largest lead of the game up by seven points. Houston went down 12 points with just over three minutes to play after not finding a way to slow down Utah and looking lost trying to get any stops.

The Houston Rockets face the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday at Toyota Center. Tip-off is set for 7:00 P.M. CST.