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Red-hot Rockets face Jazz on Tuesday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 11/29/2016  at  10:21:00 AM
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HOUSTON ROCKETS (11-6)

at UTAH JAZZ (10-8)

Tip-off: Tuesday, 9:05 p.m. ET
Line: Houston -2.0, Total: 202.5

Both the Rockets and Jazz will be going for their third straight wins when the teams meet in Utah on Tuesday.

Houston has been one of the hottest teams in the league lately, as the Rockets have now won five of their past six and seven of their past 10. This Houston team also happens to be covering a ton, as the Rockets have covered in seven of their past eight games and nine of 12 of their 17 games this season. Houston’s last win was particularly impressive, as the team won 130-114 as a 1.5-point favorite in Portland. That is not an easy place to play and the Rockets will now look to stay hot against a Jazz team that is also playing well. Utah has now won-and-covered in three straight games after beating Minnesota 112-103 on Monday night. These teams did, however, meet recently, and the Rockets won that game 111-102 as 6.5-point home favorites on Nov. 19. The trends also happen to favor Houston, as the team is 16-3 ATS on Tuesday nights over the past three seasons and 10-1 ATS after a combined score of 205 points or more this season. It’s not all bad for the Jazz, though. Utah is 39-23 ATS when revenging a loss where its opponent scored 100 or more points over the past three seasons.

The Rockets are on fire right now and they’ll continue to win games as long as SG James Harden (28.9 PPG, 12.2 APG, 7.4 RPG, 1.2 SPG) keeps playing the way he has been. The hiring of head coach Mike D’Antoni might be the best thing that ever happened to Harden. D’Antoni has given Harden the opportunity to run this offense exactly how he wants. Harden has responded by scoring the basketball the way he always has, but also by leading the NBA in assists. He should be able to put on yet another show on Tuesday, as he has a big advantage in size against the guys the Jazz will throw at him. That’ll help him finish at the rim or draw fouls. Another guy worth pointing out in this game is SG Eric Gordon (15.5 PPG). Gordon has gotten a bad rap over the years, but he can flat-out shoot the basketball. That has been big for this Rockets team, as Harden often finds his teammates great looks. It’d be big for Houston if Gordon could get hot in this one. A last player worth mentioning is C Clint Capela (12.4 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 2.0 BPG). Capela has had an up-and-down year, but his matchup with Rudy Gobert is going to go a long way in determining the outcome of this one. If Capela can avoid foul trouble and stay close in the battle on the boards then the Rockets could win this one on the road.

The Jazz are playing some good basketball and they were happy to get PG George Hill (21.2 PPG, 4.2 APG, 3.8 RPG, 1.1 SPG) back two games ago. Hill has seemingly found his home in Utah, where he has thrived in a bigger role this season. If Hill can continue to knock down shots and take care of the ball then the Jazz are going to be a playoff team. They had one of the worst point guard situations in basketball last year, but that has not been the case at all early in the season. SF Gordon Hayward (20.6 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 3.6 APG) certainly enjoys having Hill around. Hayward used to need to run this offense for nearly the entire game, but he has taken a bit of a backseat when Hill is on the court this season. That is allowing Hayward to stay fresher late in games, and that could be big on Tuesday. Look for him to have a very efficient offensive performance in this one. C Rudy Gobert (10.8 PPG, 10.9 RPG, 2.5 BPG) is the x-factor for the Jazz, though. Gobert is going to see a lot of guys attacking the rim in this one, and it’ll be up to him to send their shots away. He is one of the better rim protectors in basketball, so he should be fine as long as he stays out of foul trouble. Offensively, Gobert will just need to finish at the rim and knock down some free throws. He has been better from the line this season (65%), and that has really helped his game go to a new level.


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