Houston (3-0) at Utah (0-3)
When: Monday, April 22nd, 2019
Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena,
Salt Lake City, Utah
Time: 10:30 ET | TV: TNT
Opening Odds: Houston -1/212.5
James Harden had one of his worst shooting nights of the season on Saturday, and the Utah Jazz still couldn’t take advantage of that at home in Game 3 of their Western Conference first round series. The Jazz will try and think of another way of beating the fourth-seeded Rockets and extend the best of seven series another day when they host Game 4 on Monday night in Salt Lake City. Harden began Game 3 by missing each of his first 15 shot attempts, but gathered himself in the fourth quarter to help rally Houston to a 104-101 victory at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Harden finished 3-of-20 from the field, but managed 22 points by sinking 14-of-16 free throws, while also dishing out 10 assists and recording six steals on defense. Donovan Mitchell scored 34 points to lead the Jazz, but Utah couldn’t overcome 14 turnovers and 13 missed free throws. Houston weathered Harden’s shooting woes by getting key contributions from multiple role players including Clint Capela (11 points, 14 rebounds) and PJ Tucker (12 points, 10 boards). Jazz head coach Quin Snyder realized his team missed a golden opportunity on Saturday. “We didn’t capitalize as much as we needed to, especially during a stretch there in the third quarter where I thought we had a chance to build a little bit of a lead,” Snyder told reporters after the game. The Rockets are seeking their first playoff sweep since taking three from the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1997.
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Chris Paul scored 18 points, four assists, and four rebounds, but it was Tucker’s free-throws late in the game that sealed the victory. Houston also got contributions from reserve guard Austin Rivers, who scored 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting and Eric Gordon reached double-figures (12 points) despite a 4-of-11 night. The Rockets have now won five in a row from Utah after the Jazz took the first two meetings of the 2018-19 season.
Mitchell missed a wide-open 3-pointer that would have tied the game with under 10 seconds left and missed five of his 17 free-throw attempts on Saturday. Jazz center and defensive-specialist Rudy Gobert blocked seven shots in Game 3 after managing a total of one block in the first two contests in Houston. Jae Crowder finished with five points in 24 minutes, starting for the first time in the series, while small forward Joe Ingles is 4-of-17 from 3-point range in the series. Utah will need to shoot better than 12-of-41 from beyond the arc if they want to extend the series back to Houston.
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Utah has to be feeling awful after not taking advantage of Harden’s shooting woes in Game 3 and may not have anymore answers for this hot Houston team. This Jazz team is not as good as people think. They went 13-3 in the final 16 regular season games, but only two of those wins were against playoff teams (Brooklyn, Denver). I think Houston gets the sweep here.
Pick: Rockets -2.5
Rockets are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 Conference Quarterfinals games.
Rockets are 9-1-1 ATS in their last 11 vs. Western Conference.
Rockets are 8-1 ATS in their last 9 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.
Rockets are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games following a straight up win.
Rockets are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games following a ATS win.
Rockets are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game.
Rockets are 6-1-1 ATS in their last 8 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
Rockets are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game.
Rockets are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
Rockets are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 vs. NBA Northwest.
Rockets are 12-3-1 ATS in their last 16 games overall.
Rockets are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games playing on 1 days rest.
Jazz are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games playing on 1 days rest.
Jazz are 19-7-1 ATS in their last 27 games following a straight up loss.
Jazz are 19-8-1 ATS in their last 28 games following a ATS loss.
Jazz are 7-18-1 ATS in their last 26 Monday games.
Jazz are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
Jazz are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 Conference Quarterfinals games.
Jazz are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 vs. NBA Southwest.
Jazz are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
Under is 5-1 in Rockets last 6 vs. NBA Northwest.
Under is 11-3-1 in Rockets last 15 after allowing 100 points or more in their previous game.
Under is 18-6-2 in Rockets last 26 games playing on 1 days rest.
Under is 6-2 in Rockets last 8 road games vs. a team with a home winning % of greater than .600.
Under is 14-5-1 in Rockets last 20 when their opponent allows 100 points or more in their previous game.
Under is 16-6-1 in Rockets last 23 overall.
Under is 8-3 in Rockets last 11 road games.
Under is 13-5 in Rockets last 18 vs. Western Conference.
Under is 18-7-1 in Rockets last 26 after scoring 100 points or more in their previous game.
Under is 5-2 in Rockets last 7 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
Under is 7-3 in Rockets last 10 road games vs. a team with a winning home record.
Under is 11-5-1 in Rockets last 17 when their opponent scores 100 points or more in their previous game.
Under is 8-1 in Jazz last 9 Monday games.
Under is 4-1 in Jazz last 5 Conference Quarterfinals games.
Under is 10-3 in Jazz last 13 games following a ATS loss.
Under is 6-2 in Jazz last 8 games following a straight up loss.
Under is 8-3 in Jazz last 11 home games.
Under is 5-2 in Jazz last 7 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
Under is 5-2 in Jazz last 7 vs. a team with a winning straight up record.
Rockets are 4-0-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings.
Rockets are 6-1 ATS in the last 7 meetings in Utah.
Under is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings in Utah.
Under is 5-2 in the last 7 meetings.
Road team is 7-3-1 ATS in the last 11 meetings.
