Jazz Blast Past Rockets, 135-101, as Focus Wanes
Silent Night. Dwindling Attention. The Grind Continues.
It was a a silent night, at least for the Rockets, in Salt Lake City on Monday evening. Houston got blown out by the Jazz, 135-101, for their fifth straight loss. Kevin Martin Jr., of all players, led the Rockets in scoring with 16 points, on a night when no one on Houston’s squad had a nice groove to their game. Donovan Mitchell score 30 points to lead the Jazz, who had seven different players score in double-figures. This game was never close, as Utah led by 12 points after the first quarter, and then stretched that lead to 25 at halftime.
As is the case for the majority of the league, it’s hard to maintain focus as the All-Star break approaches. Whether they’re attending the festivities in Cleveland, or going somewhere like Cabo, it’s hard to keep attention to detail, especially for younger players, as the league’s intermission approaches. Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, and Jae’Sean Tate will all be in the Rising Stars Game. Green’s also participating in the Slam Dunk Contest. Nonetheless, the Rockets have been victims of fatigue-inspired malaise over the past few games, and it won’t get any easier as the team wraps up the road trip with a tough back-to-back on the horizon.
Utah’s one of the hardest places to win a basketball game for a road team in this league. It only gets tougher for Houston, as they travel to Phoenix to take on the Suns, the NBA’s best team, in the first of a back-to-back. They’ll wrap up proceedings with a battle in Los Angeles against the Clippers on Thursday night before heading on break. Hopefully the Rockets can steal an upset, but at this point in the season, that would be extremely unlikely.