Harden sputters, but Rockets tighten stranglehold

SALT LAKE CITY - James Harden never worried.

In fact, he didn't realize that he missed his first 15 shots on Saturday.

Through it all, 'The Beard' never changed the attacking style that made him the NBA's leading scorer this season.

Harden overcame a poor shooting performance and scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Houston Rockets to a 104-101 win over the Utah Jazz for a commanding 3-0 lead in their Western Conference quarterfinal playoff.

"Keep shooting. Keep being aggressive," Harden said of his only thoughts. "My job is to go out there and produce. Be aggressive and in attack mode. Nothing changes."

Not much has worked for the Jazz against Harden, and even when Utah thought he was trapped, he somehow managed to still control the flow of the game.

"You're going to give something up. The best thing you can do with him is just try to make it hard on him. Even when you do that, there's times where he's going to make plays," Utah coach Quin Snyder said.

The Jazz didn't take it easy on Harden, and took every opportunity to knock him down, even when it sent him to the line.

For one of the rare times this season, Harden passed up some shots. But he took them - and made them - when they counted most.

Though the victory was hardly a thing of beauty, Houston coach Mike D'Antoni was grateful for the way the Rockets got it done.

"Sooner or later we have to win games on defense. We did this time," D'Antoni said of a team known for Harden's lethal 3-point attack but which dramatically improved on the defensive end after mid-season.

Harden made a 3-pointer and added two free throws with 42.4 seconds left to give the Rockets a 101-97 lead.

After Donovan Mitchell made two freebies, Harden missed another 3-point attempt, but PJ Tucker, who finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made one of two free throws.

"You trust (Tucker) to make those plays," said Chris Paul. "He's going to do anything and everything to help the team win."

Mitchell had a wide-open look at a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, but like so many of his shots in the hard-fought contest, it was off the mark.

Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is on Monday night in Utah.

"We didn't shoot the ball well and we still won. That just gives us more confidence," said Harden, who was 3-for-20 shooting with 10 assists. He was 14 for 16 from the line.

Paul scored 18 points and Clint Capela had 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Rockets, who shot 38.4 percent from the field and 67.6 percent from the line.

Mitchell scored 34 points, but struggled shooting, too, making just 9 of his 27 attempts. Derrick Favors had 13 for the Jazz.

Let's get physical

The teams combined for 72 free throws and at least one player hit the hardwood on almost every call.

"It was a lot of emotion, a lot of physicality out there," Harden said. "It was playoff basketball."

Gobert said the Rockets finally got a taste of the Jazz defense that propelled Utah to 50 wins this season.

"The way we started the game, we were tough and they felt us. I don't think they felt us the first two games," Gobert said.

Associated Press