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SALT LAKE CITY – James Harden won 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 of his 22 points, bringing the Houston Rockets to a 104-101 victory over the Utah Jazz for an advance of 3- 0 in the first leg of the first round series.
Harden made a 3-pointer and added two free throws with 42.4 seconds to give the Rockets a 101-97 lead. After Donovan Mitchell made two free throws, Harden missed another 3-point attempt, but PJ Tucker, who finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, grabbed the rebound, was fouled and performed one of the two free throws.
Mitchell had opened his eyes to a three-pointer on the resulting possession, but as many of his shots in the fierce fight, it was unexpected.
The fourth game of the Western Conference 's best series will be held Monday night in Utah.
Harden missed his first 15 shots and made 3 out of 20 shots with 10 assists. He was 14 years old for 16 years of the line.
Chris Paul scored 18 points and Clint Capela earned 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Rockets, who won despite 38.4% of the vote and 67.6% of the replies.
Mitchell scored 34 points, but also struggled to shoot, making only 9 of 27 attempts. Derrick Favors was 13 for the Jazz.
Royce O'Neale, who played hard on Harden, scored 3 points for Utah's last lead at 89-88.
Jazz has led most of the game, but never more than eight.
The Rockets made their move in the fourth quarter.
Gerald Green scored three straight points and Harden added a pair of free throws. It was 8:33 to put the Rockets on the rise, 84-80.
After two slow starts in Houston, the Jazz came out with a deafening crowd hanging on each basket. Utah led 11-3 and Harden scored two fouls in the first 94 seconds, but remained on the field. He could not find his rhythm before stretching.
The Rockets did not hide that they wanted Mitchell and Ingles to seize their game and force the other Utah players to beat them. Until now, no one else has made them pay.
Mitchell promised to be more aggressive and apologized for being a "no show" at the beginning of the series. He 's reintroduced into the series with an exuberant show of filming and open emotion after great games. But it did not last.
Before the big game on Saturday, Mitchell shot 32.6% and had more turnovers (nine) than aids (six). After his warm start, Mitchell missed 11 straight-line attempts, but never stopped attacking.
He missed 3 points and floats to Harden, two of which were rejected by Rudy Gobert early in the game and were not converted before his quick start with a time of 7:34. But he then took a step back from 3 points to give Houston its biggest lead at 89-83.
The MVP's most valuable candidate has come to the line of fire – something the Jazz has desperately tried to avoid. But he also spent a lot of time on the ground as the Jazz was much more physical than in the previous two Houston eruptions.
Gobert had 10 points, eight rebounds and seven blocked shots.
Before the match, Mike D'Antoni said that all the discussions about the playoff adjustments were exaggerated.
"It will especially affect the hearts and souls of the players, and they will force their will, play hard and get people in," he predicted.
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