Houston Rockets: 3 takeaways from Game 3 vs. Jazz

After displaying a lackluster level of effort and focus in Game 2 of their playoff series against the Utah Jazz, the Houston Rockets responded with arguably their best performance yet in Game 3.

On a night where Utah Jazz forward Joe Ingles knocked down a triple on the game’s opening possession, the Houston Rockets would find a way to answer back by going on a full offensive onslaught, putting together a myriad of runs that would completely silence the 19,911 fans in attendance at the Vivint Smart Home Arena for almost the entire duration of the contest.

James Harden scored a game-high 25 points and dished out 12 assists to help the Rockets regain home-court advantage and take a 2-1 series lead with a 113-92 win against Utah in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.

"“We just adjusted our attitude, spirit and energy and did it,” Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni said after the game. “I thought our defense was superb. And then we were hitting shots….we kept the crowd out of it, kept [the Jazz] on their heels. You could just see the guys feeding off of good defense after good defense.”"

Houston, which led by as many as 38 points in the third quarter, managed to take full advantage of a Ricky Rubio-less Jazz squad by converting on several 3-pointers and shots inside from the onset of the contest. They shot a red-hot 60 percent from the field in the first half en route to establishing a 30-point lead they would never look back from the rest of the evening.

Royce O’Neale led the way for Utah with 17 points, while rookie guard Donovan Mitchell registered 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting in a losing effort.

Here are the three major takeaways from Clutch City’s win in Game 3.