Jazz routed in Houston as Rockets cruise to 125-105 win

HOUSTON — It's beginning to go from bad to worse for the Utah Jazz after a 125-105 thumping from the Houston Rockets Monday night.

Outside of the opening minutes to begin the first and second quarters, Houston largely controlled the game with its defense and impressive shooting display.

For Utah, it was an ugly product on the court for the majority of the game in what was their second and final nationally televised game of the season. The team couldn't get shots to fall and turnovers only dug a deeper grave for the Jazz.

After missing the previous two games, Lauri Markkanen made his return to the lineup for Utah. And despite a strong game from Markkanen, the Jazz did not get much offensive output from the rest of the team.

Markkanen managed 29 points on a less-than-efficient 10-of-23 shooting night to lead the team in scoring.

The Rockets shared the ball well against Utah and connected for 34 team assists on 49 made field goals. Houston's entire starting lineup reached double-figure scoring, with Reed Sheppard also scoring 15 points off the bench.

Jabari Smith Jr. was one the main focal points of Houston's offense alongside Kevin Durant and scored 27 points for the Rockets, with 22 coming in the first half. Durant had a steady 18 points and made his biggest impact with his playmaking as he dished out 12 assists to lead Houston.

"I like how we moved the ball, made shots, Jabari with 30 tonight," Durant said on the postgame TV broadcast. "It's always good to see the ball go through the rim, but we want to be a perfect team."

Turnovers were an issue for both squads, but it was the Jazz who capitalized the most off of the giveaways. Without the Rockets' 27 turnovers that led to 34 points for Utah, the margin could have been much wider for Houston.

"That's been our Achilles heel the whole season," Durant said. "We can't have more than 10, 12 turnovers a night. That's the bad part about the game, but a good overall game from an offensive standpoint."

The Jazz opened the game with an early lead after five quick turnovers from the Rockets forced their head coach Ime Udoka to take a timeout. Houston then settled in and began to play like a team that's in fourth place in the Western Conference standings.

"It was carelessness," Udoka said. "It wasn't by any pressure, any traps, any blitzes — got to be better. You're not gonna beat a real team, you know, a better team with that high number."

Utah was down double digits after the opening frame, but some careless turnovers from the Rockets helped fuel a 13-2 run for the Jazz to close the deficit to 5. Houston responded, once again, and never relinquished momentum.

The Rockets built up a 21-point halftime lead after it shot 64% from the field, while the Jazz managed just 33%.

It only got worse in the second half for Utah as Houston continued to push the pace and pushed the lead to as much as 33 points. That lead proved too insurmountable for Utah to overcome in the team's 13th loss by 20+ points this season.

Brice Sensabaugh put together another strong scoring performance with 26 points off the bench. Since the turn of the calendar, Sensabaugh has averaged 17.3 points per game to help carve out a role as a reliable scorer for the second unit.

Injuries continue to pile up for Utah, who announced earlier Monday that center Jusuf Nurkic will miss the rest of the season after undergoing nose surgery, and Vince Williams Jr. exited early from Monday's game with a left knee injury.

Williams left in the second quarter after landing awkwardly as a result of being pushed by Tari Eason on a fastbreak attempt for Houston.

Utah will have two days off before its next game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday. In the meantime, they'll await any news of Williams' injury and if Keyonte George can return to the court after missing the previous five games.

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