James Harden and Donovan Mitchell trade baskets in Utah
Thursday night’s matchup between the Houston Rockets and the Utah Jazz pitted NBA royalty against one of the league’s most promising rising stars. James Harden long ago established his place among today’s greats, but rookie combo guard Donovan Mitchell came out of the locker room with something to prove.
The Beard laid down dibble moves that kept his defenders on skates and took the kinds of shots that would drive most coaches insane if it weren’t for the fact that his name happens to be James Harden. Harden went to work as usual against a defense focused on shutting him down, but still managed to score 29 points without breaking much of a sweat.
Utah made the game competitive for most of the first half, but in the third quarter the Rockets went on a three-point barrage to drain seven long distance bombs and pad their lead to over 20 points. Harden and Ryan Anderson each drained three of their four shots from the perimeter in third and contest looked to be all but over.
Although Chris Paul was somewhat of an afterthought, he miraculous missed his first triple-double of the season by a single rebound as he racked up 18 points, 13 dimes and nine rebounds for Houston. The Rockets allowed Utah to come back within 11 points late, but still came away with their eight straight victory as the dispatched the Jazz 112-101.
Houston held the momentum for most of the game, but star rookie Donovan Mitchell did his best to keep his squad within in arms reach. The hyper-athletic scorer poured in 26 points and 4 assists and even gave Harden a you reach I teach moment with a crafty crossover midway through the games penultimate frame.
Utah lost the game, but their heads should be held high as their first-year stud Mitchell continues to prove he’s ready to take the league by storm. While he averaged 14.3 points on some very poor shooting though his fist eleven games, Mitchell has absolutely ripped the cord over the last seven contests to average 26.1 points on unbelievable 52-47-81 shooting splits.
The Jazz don’t have all the parts necessary to compete for a title, especially in the incredibly deep Western Conference. With that said, their foundation is strong and with another All-Star piece to put alongside Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, the Jazz could easily find themselves vying for a top seed in the Western Conference playoff picture.
