Rockets 127, Jazz 126 OT: Inside the numbers
HOUSTON — The Utah Jazz’s lost 127-126 in overtime to the Houston Rockets on Saturday night at the Toyota Center.
Here’s a look inside the numbers from the loss:
Best performance: Alperen Sengun was going to be a tough cover for the Jazz no matter the situation, but he was able to get into a rhythm early and finished with a game-high 37 points.
Worst performance: John Collins struggled against the Sengun-led lineup in the first half and the Jazz decided to go with Walker Kessler in the starting lineup for the second half. Collins finished with seven points and was 0 of 4 from 3-point land.
7: Some of the most important defensive moments for the Jazz came from Kessler and Ochai Agbaji at the rim, where they combined for seven blocks on the night (Kessler finished with 5).
23: The Rockets came up with 23 offensive rebounds, which they converted into 25 second-chance points.
17: Then Jazz trailed by as many as 17 and trailed by 13 at halftime but outscored the Rockets 38-25 in the third quarter to tie the game ahead of the fourth.
33: Jordan Clarkson finished with a team-high 33 points and 12 rebounds for the Jazz off the bench. He also dished out four assists.
Best of the best: While Sengun scored 37 points, he also finished with 14 rebounds and six assists. The bulk of his rebounds came on the offensive end (8), which helped to give the Rockets the lift when they needed it most.
Worst of the worst: Kessler was issued his sixth and final foul with 8.8 seconds left. Although the Jazz wanted to challenge the call, believing that Kessler got to the ball for a block before he fouled, they didn’t have a timeout and so they couldn’t challenge the call.
