Houston visits Utah with 3-0 series lead
Houston Rockets (53-29, fourth in the Western Conference during the regular season) vs. Utah Jazz (50-32, fifth in the Western Conference during the regular season)
Salt Lake City; Monday, 10:30 p.m. EDT
WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND: Houston leads series 3-0
BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Rockets visit the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference first round with a 3-0 lead in the series. The Rockets won the last matchup 104-101. James Harden scored 22 points to lead Houston to the win and Donovan Mitchell recorded 34 points in defeat for Utah.
The Jazz have gone 29-12 in home games. Utah ranks eighth in the league with 26 assists per game, led by Ricky Rubio averaging 6.1.
The Rockets are 32-20 against Western Conference opponents. Houston is the worst team in the Western Conference scoring 42.1 points in the paint per game.
TOP PERFORMERS: Mitchell leads the Jazz averaging 2.4 made 3-pointers and scoring 23.8 points per game while shooting 36.2 percent from beyond the arc. Rudy Gobert has averaged 14.9 points and collected 11.1 rebounds while shooting 61.1 percent over the last 10 games for Utah.
Harden leads the Rockets averaging 4.8 made 3-pointers while scoring 36.1 points per game and shooting 36.8 percent from beyond the arc. Eric Gordon has averaged 16.1 points and collected 1.6 rebounds while shooting 48.8 percent over the last 10 games for Houston.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rockets: 9-1, averaging 122 points, 45.7 rebounds, 23.2 assists, eight steals and 4.8 blocks per game while shooting 47.0 percent from the field. Their opponents have averaged 101.1 points on 42.6 percent shooting.
Jazz: 5-4, averaging 112.9 points, 45.9 rebounds, 26.1 assists, eight steals and 6.1 blocks per game while shooting 47.5 percent from the field. Their opponents have averaged 112.9 points on 46.2 percent shooting.
Jazz Injuries: Dante Exum: out (right knee pain).
Rockets Injuries: None listed.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by HERO Sports, and data from Sportradar.