The playoffs are such a weird animal. We now live in the era of “What have you done for me lately?” So every game gets over-analyzed to the extreme. After a team wins a playoff game, it becomes impossible to see them losing again. They’re riding sky high and have just defeated the team they are about to play again. Conversely, after a loss a team is described as “broken” or “trash” in all corners of the internet. If you think that every game in this series will be similar to Game 1 or 2, you are kidding yourself. The Jazz opened as 3-point favorites in Game 3 because home court matters a lot and Utah’s home court matters even more. In last year’s first round series, the Rockets beat the Timberwolves in Game 1 on the back of a vintage fourth quarter James Harden performance and then won Game 2 by 20 after pulling away early in the game. Houston looked unbeatable and the sweep was on. Then Houston went to Minnesota and lost by 16. Everything went wrong and suddenly it seemed like the series was destined for six or seven games. It ended comfortably in five games. I guess if you take anything from this, it should be that you cannot use the most recent game to forecast the outcome of a series. Houston was supposed to sweep. Then the series was supposed to go the distance. Then it didn’t. When every game is the most important game (as it is in the playoffs), things can swing back and forth up to six times in a series. After Utah beat Houston in Game 2 last year, that series appeared to be headed for six games at least. After Golden State blew out Houston in Game 3, the Rockets were going to be lucky if the series got past Game 5. None of those prognostications played out that way. The Rockets will clearly be ready for Game 3, as will the Jazz. Expect this game to be physical and for the Vivint Smart Home Arena (that arena needs a better name) crowd to be explosive. Houston has only lost once in Salt Lake City over the last two years, and they have won most of those games on the backs of big early runs that took the crowd out of the game. If Houston allows the Jazz to hang around late into the game, or if Utah leads and early and Houston has to play catch-up, Utah could get all the juice they need from a crowd desperate to see a win over the rival Rockets. Of course, then we’ll get stories about how the Jazz “have figured out the Rockets.” The spin cycle lives on in perpetuity during the postseason. Young players usually get a huge boost at home during the playoffs, so expect an extra gear from Donovan Mitchell and Royce O’Neale, along with Georges Niang and Grayson Allen (if the latter two get minutes tonight). They say a series doesn’t start until the road team wins a game. Houston will look to start this series tonight so that they can finish it quickly. Prediction: Jazz use boost from home court to take Game 3 Tip-off is at 9:30pm CT on ESPN<doc-sep>The Houston Rockets cruised through the first two games of their opening-round playoff series against the Utah Jazz this week, winning by 32 points and 20 points, respectively. Saturday night, back in Vivint Smart Home Arena, the Jazz finally showed up. Yet even with a historically-bad offensive night from the best offensive player in the league, it still wasn’t enough. The Rockets escaped a tight matchup in Salt Lake City, beating the Jazz 104-101 to take a 3-0 lead in the series. “They played us tough, no doubt about it,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “They had their energy right and the crowd was great for them, but merit our guys. We found a way to win it. We just didn’t play well. We made some silly turnovers ... obviously James was 3-for-20 and you win with that, normally we would say you can’t win that way. But because of defense, rebounding, big shots ... some good stuff happened. Won it.” "We found a way to win." Mike D'Antoni applauds his Rockets squad for fighting through adversity and finishing Game 3.#NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/tGc6OdavcG — NBA TV (@NBATV) April 21, 2019 The Jazz jumped out to just a slight 2-point lead in the first quarter thanks to 13 quick points from Donovan Mitchell, but didn’t give the Rockets the lead once in the opening 12 minutes. Utah pushed their lead to five points at halftime, thanks to a huge 3-pointer from Joe Ingles to close out the second quarter. While their offensive game was impressive, it was the Jazz’s defense that stood out. James Harden scored just six points in the first half, but went 0-of-10 from the field — including 0-of-5 from behind the arc — to mark his worst half of shooting this season. They totally shut the reigning league MVP down. Despite a rough offensive game from James Harden, the Rockets escape Game 3 against the Jazz with a win. (AP/Rick Bowmer) Harden’s struggles continued into the second half Story continues Harden had yet to hit a field goal by the end of the third quarter, missing all four of his shots in the period. But the Jazz struggled to take advantage of his rare offensive lapse, and only held a two point lead entering the fourth quarter. Harden, after an NBA playoff record 0-of-15 start from the field, finally hit his first field goal at the 7:32 mark of the fourth quarter — slamming down a wide open dunk to give the Rockets a three-point lead. He followed it up on the next possession, too, drilling a 3-pointer from the edge of the half-court logo over Jazz forward Joe Ingles. With one minute left, the Jazz had cut the Rockets’ lead to just two points, though Harden quickly extended it to four by hitting a pair of free throws. After bouncing back and forth with free throws on both ends, the Rockets held a 3-point lead with just 10.1 seconds left in the game — though the Jazz had one last chance. Mitchell, after catching the inbounds pass, missed a wide open 3-point attempt to tie the game. A Rockets rebound sealed the deal, giving Houston the three-point win. Harden still led with 22 points and 10 assists, having gone 14-of-16 from the free throw line but just 3-of-20 from the field. Yet when asked about his rough shooting night after the game, both Harden and Chris Paul insisted that they had no idea how bad Harden was shooting. Even when ESPN reporter Cassidy Hubbarth didn’t believe them and called them out on it, the duo remained adamant. They were just playing. “I went 0-for-15?” Harden asked Hubbarth after the game. “I didn’t know that. I don’t remember.” “I went up to him right there in that timeout and I said, ‘Get your swag up,’” Paul said. “He knows how we play. We don’t play that percentages. We don’t look at how many shots you missed or made. We put the work in. That’s what you work all summer for. We believe in him, like we believe in Gerald and everybody on our team. We keep playing and stay the course.” Mitchell led the Jazz with 34 points, shooting just 9-of-27 from the field. Derrick Favors dropped 13 points off the bench, and both Ricky Rubio and Rudy Gobert added 10 points. Game 4 of the series is scheduled for Monday night in Salt Lake City, where the Rockets will attempt to make it out of the first round of the playoffs for the third-straight season. More from Yahoo Sports:<doc-sep>Takeaways from the Rockets 104-101 Game 3 win against the Utah Jazz: In all those times James Harden had carried the Rockets, as weeks stretched into months, the numbers piling up, records falling, he did it for one overriding reason. He had to for the Rockets to win. He does not, anymore. If that was not already clear, the Rockets emphatically demonstrated how much they had change since Harden had grabbed the season and pulled it from December's depths until help could arrive, Harden missed his first 15 shots on Saturday and it did not matter. The Rockets were leading the Jazz when he slammed home shot No. 16. The Rockets defended and rebounded and benefited from all kinds of good fortune (assuming they were not playing great free throw defense in the second half.) But they also got just enough from many contributors until Harden finally delivered down the stretch. The Rockets had the fortitude to withstand the early punch the Jazz delivered. They had the resilience to find other ways. And they had enough contributors, with Eric Gordon and Gerald Green each putting in three 3-pointers, Austin Rivers putting in a pair when the Rockets were struggling in the first half and Harden making it work as a playmaker, getting 10 assists with six steals when he could not get it going as a shooter. The Rockets would not have won a game like Saturday's early in the season. They would have needed Harden to carry them. He could not against the Jazz defense at its best. But now, he does not have to. Rick Bowmer/Associated Press 1. Don't try to label James Harden's game For all the times James Harden's playoff play has been criticized, attaching labels to him in the post-season version of his ability to polarize no matter how much he does well, this was not like that. For one, the Rockets won. He was better with the game on the line, making 3 of 6 shots in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 points with three assists when he had to produce. That's a tough turnaround from 0-for-15, tougher in many ways than when things come easily. Beyond all that, criticizing him for his play in Game 3 would sort of defeat the arguments about his play in Game 6 and Game 7 in the past. If his performances early in the series in those seasons did not count when evaluating him, then it cannot define him now, either. The idea that he does not come through in the big games assumes the other games in which he did come through were not big. Technically, they are all the same. In the playoffs, they are all big. And if he stinks in the spotlight that always follows him, he can be called out for that, just as he can be credited when he dominates, no matter where in the series either result falls. If anything, the 3 of 20 showed how difficult it is to do what he is expected of him. Harden battles the best defenses and the sharpest minds working to stop him. He has done so much this season by often making the tough shots, the runners in the lane over great shot blockers, the step-back 3s against the best defenders. On Saturday, he missed those shots, and as Chris Paul reminded him, Rudy Gobert "threw a few" too. He found other ways to contribute and the Rockets needed that. But they will need him to score as usual, too, likely as soon as Monday and certainly as the playoffs progress. But in a season of setting records and doing things no one has since Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain, he did again. When Harden went 0 for 10 in the first half, it was the most misses without a make since 1997 – when Jordan went 0 for 11 against the Heat in the conference finals. If nothing else, Harden is again in good company. And like Jordan and the Bulls that night, the Rockets won. 2. P.J. Tucker doing the dirty work, again If there was ever a game that needed to be won with a P.J. Tucker hustle play, this was it. It was an ugly game, but with the exception of some Tucker corner 3s, launched with his familiar stiff delivery, he does not do pretty. The Rockets might have won on Saturday even if Tucker did not come down with the offensive rebound of a James Harden miss with 10.6 seconds left. The Rockets led by two. The Jazz could have missed on their final possession, as they would after Tucker's free throw gave the Rockets a three-point lead. Tucker offered an encore, however. The Jazz were able to inbound to Donovan Mitchell for a 3 to tie before the Rockets could send him to the line. Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni has said he has changed his thinking about fouling with a three-point lead to choosing to foul that late in the game. Jeff Bzdelik said he would have had the Rockets foul in Oklahoma City had Harden made his last free throw for a three-point lead. But Mitchell got his shot off before anyone could stop him. When he missed, Tucker pulled down his 10th rebound. He was fouled and made both attempts. Ballgame. That seemed fitting for the game, but it also was a welcome and needed change. The Rockets had spent the season getting burned on the boards. For all their improvements defensively, they have continued to give up second shots. The Jazz generally send only one player to the glass and though Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors are strong rebounders, they had just two apiece. The Jazz scored just 10 second-chance points, with Tucker's free throw matching that total. With the game on the line, the Rockets stepped up on the glass to take the win. The Jazz missed 14 shots in the fourth quarter. They got the rebound on just one of them. The Rockets outrebounded the Jazz, 15-8, in the final quarter. That is not a pretty way to win.<doc-sep>Game 3 Betting Odds: Houston Rockets at Utah Jazz Spread: Jazz -2.5 Over/Under: 215.5 Time: 10:30 p.m. ET TV Channel: ESPN Series Score: Rockets Lead 2-0 >> All odds as of 9 a.m. ET. Download The Action Network App to get real-time odds and live win probabilities on your bets. The Utah Jazz took two unexpected beatings in the first two games of this series but are about as scrappy as they come. Will their raucous crowd in Salt Lake City give them a much-needed edge in Game 3? Our analysts discuss. Betting Trends to Know Under Mike D’Antoni, the Rockets have had success on the road in the postseason. Houston is 8-4 against-the-spread (ATS) away from the Toyota Center and only 9-9 ATS at home. — John Ewing The Jazz are in an 0-2 hole. Since 2005, playoff teams on a losing streak of at least two games have gone 108-80-9 (57.4%) ATS when favored in their next game. This includes 35-25-3 ATS in Game 3 after losing the first two games of a series. — Ewing The Houston Rockets are on a roll. Whether it has been the end of the regular season or their first two playoff games, the Rockets are simply dominating their opponents. Over their last five games, the Rockets are outscoring their opponents by 22.2 points per game. Over their last 10 games, they are outscoring their opponents by 19.2 points per game. Teams that enter a first-round series blowing teams out tend to keep it rolling. In the first round of the playoffs since 2005… Outscoring opponents by 10+ PPG in last 5 games: 88-56-1 ATS (61.1%) 88-56-1 ATS (61.1%) Outscoring opponents by 15+ PPG in last 5 games: 27-13-1 ATS (67.5%) 27-13-1 ATS (67.5%) Outscoring opponents by 10+ PPG in last 10 games: 61-39 ATS (61%) — Evan Abrams Did You Know? Since 2005, the Rockets are just the third team to be listed as an underdog in the playoffs after winning their last 10 games by an average of 15 points or more. The previous two lost straight-up… Game 1 – 2017 NBA Finals: Cavaliers lost 113-91 at Warriors Cavaliers lost 113-91 at Warriors Game 1 – 2009 Western Conference Finals: Nuggets lost 105-103 at Lakers — Abrams Locky: My Thoughts on Saturday’s Game This is probably the series I’ve been the most wrong about. It’s not that I am surprised the Rockets are up 2-0, but the manner in which they are completely destroying Utah is really just so impressive. Utah was an impressive road team throughout the season with a +4.2 Net Rating, so it’s not like there is some switch-flip that’s going to happen here and you’re going to see a different Jazz team now that they’re at home. Utah continues to struggle to stop Houston’s offense, and the scary thing is the Rockets shot only about 36% and 40% from 3 in the two wins. In home playoff games, with their offense, that’s not that far outside of their averages; the Rockets shot about 36% from 3 in the regular season, too. James Harden has had 29 and 32 points and shot under 50% from the field in both games. That’s not particularly crazy as any type of outlier. The point is that this all feels repeatable throughout the series and the games to come. Even if I give the Jazz a massive home-court advantage and their crowd (as we have heard throughout this season) is particularly boisterous, a number like Utah -3 just implies something on a neutral court that can’t possibly be true right now — that there is virtually no margin between the teams. There are plenty of trends about teams down 0-2 going home, but Houston is a very experienced playoff team at this point, and I don’t think the energy of a road environment is going to be as impactful as it may be against some opponents. Really, this is just a juggernaut Rockets team at the moment, with a system Utah is completely helpless to stop. The arena may not matter. I like Houston plus points. — Ken Barkley Mears: How I’m Betting Game 3 I honestly would be surprised at this point if this series lasted more than five games. You could make a good case that the Rockets are the toughest matchup for the Jazz of any team — including the Warriors. What makes the Jazz so good is obviously their defense, headlined by All-World rim protector Rudy Gobert. The problem with a matchup with Houston is that the Rockets are taking 3-pointers at literally a historic rate. They space the floor more than any team in NBA history, which means that Gobert is constantly dragged away from the paint; that kills a lot of his value. Also, James Harden is just playing elite basketball right now. He’s an underrated player in terms of his basketball IQ, and that’s shown in this series. Here Gobert steps up and plays the Harden floater — a new asset this season. The result is an easy dump-off to Clint Capela for the slam. OK, so Gobert should play the pass. An easy layup. In this one, Gobert just has no clue what to do: This isn’t a unique problem; a lot of teams run pick-and-roll and get penetration, forcing the center to deal with this dilemma. The problem is most of those pick-and-roll ball-handlers aren’t Harden, who is a basketball genius and is in Gobert’s head. The Rockets just put the Jazz in spots they don’t want to be in defensively, and honestly there’s not really an answer for that given this roster’s current limitations. They aren’t going to switch or mix things up at this point. And on the defensive side of things, the Rockets are playing very smart basketball, pretty much daring guys like Ricky Rubio and Jae Crowder to beat them. The Jazz are shooting about 12% worse than expected based on their shot profile, and while it’s easy to say that’ll get better moving forward, it also doesn’t account for which guys are shooting. This goes in…<doc-sep>
The Houston Rockets willed their way to a 104-101 victory in Game 3. They withstood the initial onslaught from the Jazz and their fans in the first quarter and slowly clawed back into the game, to eventually win it by three points. In the process, taking a commanding 3-0 series lead, a position from which no NBA franchise has ever lost a playoff series. The game was also a fitting finale to a thrilling four-game slate which saw all four road teams capture victories. Here are the key takeaways from the dramatic encounter in Salt Lake City: James Harden's contributes despite rough shooting game The reigning MVP was on fire in the first two games of the series but the same could not be said of his shooting in Game 3. In Games 1 & 2, the Beard had averaged 30.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 10.0 assists on 44.0% shooting from the field and 43.5% from beyond the arc. In Game 3, Harden did a little bit of everything - 22 points, 10 assists, and 6 steals but seemed to have lost his shooting touch. He missed his first 15 field goal attempts, an NBA playoff record for most consecutive misses to start a game, en route to finishing 3-of-20 from the field. Despite the 15.0 field goal percentage, Harden was a +4 in his 39 minutes of action and he bounced back when it mattered the most, in the 4th quarter - 14 points, 3-6 FG, 2-5 3s, 6-6 FT, 3 assists. Fourteen of Harden's 22 points came at the free-throw line on 16 attempts, an efficiency the rest of the team could not replicate as the Rockets ended up making 23 of their 34 attempts (67.6%) The Jazz's defence showed up In their two playoff games so far, they have been unable to have the same defensive impact against the Rockets., allowing an average of 16 three's per game and a total of 120 points per game. In the regular season, Utah had the second-best defensive rating (105.2), only allowing 9.8 threes per game and held their opponents to an average of 106.5 points per game. Although they still allowed 15 three-pointers in Game 3, they held the Rockets to 104 points on 38.4%) from the field, with Rudy Gobert re-discovering his rim protecting ways, recording SEVEN blocks on the night. Through the first two games of the series, Gobert had managed just one block in 65 minutes of game time. Improving tremendously on both ends of the floor, the Jazz took the game down to the wire but at the final buzzer, became the second team in the 2019 playoffs to face a 0-3 series deficit. Jazz continue to struggle shooting threes The Jazz were a top 10 three-point shooting team in the regular season, but they just haven't been able to find their touch from deep in the playoffs. Tonight, they went 12-of-41 from beyond the arc, creating plenty of clean looks, but they failed to capitalise on Houston's poor shooting night, by having a sluggish one themselves. Joe Ingles (2-of-8), Royce O'Neale (1-of-5), Georges Niang (2-of-6) and Donovan Mitchell (4-of-12) all had a ton of open shots from deep that just wouldn't drop, none bigger than Mitchell's potential game-tying attempt with 10 seconds remaining. The Jazz had a chance to tie with 10 seconds left. The look on Donovan Mitchell's face at the end says it all. Rockets win 104-101 and lead the series 3-0. #HOUatUTA pic.twitter.com/iRF0IK2DzJ — David James (@DavidDJJames) April 21, 2019 Through three games, the Jazz are just 27-106 from the three-point line. PJ Tucker is built for the playoffs He may not get the headlines, but PJ Tucker just makes winning basketball plays. With the Rockets leading by two with 15 seconds left, James Harden's three-point attempt rimmed out, setting the stage for a potential Jazz game-winner or overtime, until PJ Tucker happened. Tucker crept in behind Joe Ingles and fought off Rudy Gobert to secure the offensive rebound, going down the other end to split a pair of free throws to put the Rockets up by three and make things that extra bit harder for the Jazz. On the ensuing play, when Donovan Mitchell's three-pointer missed, Tucker was there AGAIN, dragging in the rebound to seal the win. He finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and three assists on the night, playing his usual brand of airtight defence.