Before the Houston Rockets, the Utah Jazz were not in a good position, as homemakers Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell were absent, losing five of their last six games in one go. Originally facing the countdown to the west, Salt Lake City was expected to harvest a victory to reverse the decline. However, the Jazz ultimately failed to seize the opportunity, and their 13-point lead was reversed, and finally won their sixth game in the last seven games at home to the Witts Smart Home Arena.
In fact, the Jazz played very well in some stages of the game, such as the Jazz in the second quarter of the team 21 shots 14, shooting a high of 66.7%,; in contrast, the Rockets in the second quarter of 26 shots only 8, shooting a pitiful 30.8%. Watching the 12 minutes of the second quarter alone, an almost one-sided game, the Jazz won by 14 points and entered the second half with a five-point advantage.
However, the third quarter suddenly changed. The Jazz didn't get a single point in five minutes since veteran Mike Conley hit a three-pointer with seven minutes left in the third quarter and stretched the gap to 13 in one fell swoop. Instead, after the Rockets put Jaylen Green on the bench in the middle of the third quarter, the whole team blew the clarion call for a counteroffensive. Wood scored eight points alone, and Armoni Brooks was like a divine helper, 3 of 3 three-pointers in a single quarter, helping the visiting team to fill the gap.
Even so, the Jazz saw hope of victory at one point. Bojan Bogdanovic, who scored a game-high 29 points in the game, hit a three-pointer two minutes before the finale, followed by two more free throws, and the gap was narrowed to 2 points several times, and fans once thought that the Rockets remembered their identity as a rotten team and were going to turn around and sprint to the champion again.
But in the pull of the decisive moment, a young player in the Rockets played a role in finalizing the tone. It is no one else who plays this role, it is the "problem teenager" Kevin Porter Jr., who was once pushed to the forefront because of the quarrel with the teaching assistant. In the last 30 seconds, Porter Jr. dribbled at a forty-five-degree angle on the left and pulled out his hand directly, and the ball fell steadily into the basket, setting the victory in one fell swoop.
It is worth mentioning that the position of this ball is exactly the same as that of Porter Jr., who previously killed the Washington Wizards. That's why the Rockets rushed to bring Kevin Potter Jr. from Cleveland to Space City, to paraphrase Porter Jr.'s teammate Sean Tate: "He [Kevin Potter Jr.] was born for this kind of scene, he was born for such a key shot." Regardless of Porter Jr.'s off-court problems, he deserves the reputation of "Mr. Key" in terms of the number of times he has hit key shots in the fourth quarter to help the team.
Of course, to win this game, Porter Jr.'s 15 points alone is certainly not enough. In this game, Space City fired all its arrows, and as many as 5 players scored in double figures. In particular, "Martha" Garrison Matthews, who came off the bench, hit 5 three-pointers and scored 23 points, which was a no different. Without the 48.9% of the team's 22 three-pointers, the Rockets could not hold out the final key moment, and there was no Kevin Porter Jr. final three-point single-point savior drama.
On the Jazz side, today's three-pointer play was abnormal, and the whole team only had a 26.3% outside shooting rate, which was in stark contrast to the opponent. Bojan played well, carrying the offensive flag when Mitchell was unable to play due to concussion protection agreements. Gobert continued his efficient play after his comeback, contributing 23 points and nine rebounds. Clarkson on the bench was also full of firepower, handing over a report card of 19 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists. It is worth mentioning that this day is still a filipino traditional night, and the Filipino fans on the scene also pulled up Clarkson's rescue banner to cheer for their pride. Unfortunately, in the end, I did not win the game.
After this game, how to use Jaylen Green will be a problem for the Rockets. Without an injury, without letting him play for a full quarter and a half since the second half of the third quarter, but ultimately winning — the Rockets management needs to think hard about whether to groom Jaylen Green in this way, or whether letting go is a relief to each other? For the Jazz, they have lost enough recently, and how to get out of the quagmire of failure is a problem that manager Snyder urgently needs to figure out.