The Houston Rockets proved unable to close out their first-round series against the Utah Jazz in sweeping fashion, allowing for a Donovan Mitchell fourth-quarter barrage that ultimately forced them to come back home for a Game 5 on Wednesday.
Eric Gordon, who had kept Mitchell in check for three quarters and through most of the series, watched from his seat on the bench as Mitchell uncorked a 13-point flurry in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, more points than he had in the first three quarters of the game.
“We were out of sync,” said Eric Gordon, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “That’s really what it boiled down to. Things weren’t going our way and he got going. You know, a good player is going to score some points, but you have to make it hard on him.”
Mitchell finished with a game-high 31 points, propelling the Jazz to a 107-91 win — one that quickly got out of reach for the Rockets.
Utah led early in the game as well, making this loss more than a late-game fallout and a poor showing by the Rockets bench, who mustered only five points on 2-of-16 shooting from the floor and a dismal 1-of-10 from deep.
“They just came out aggressive,” forward P.J. Tucker said of the Jazz. “We didn’t do anything we wanted to do. It’s all on us. We didn’t do anything we talked about doing. We weren’t aggressive on defense or helping each other out. We were still in the game. That’s the funny part.
“We still weren’t playing well. We had good shooters that put us up, but we still weren’t doing the things we’re supposed to do. When you do that, you don’t deserve to win the game.”
The Rockets will have a chance to close out the series in home confines at the Toyota Center, likely setting up a second-round matchup against the Golden State Warriors, who also lead their respective series 3-1.
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