NBA round-up: Utah Jazz thrash sorry Houston Rockets
Written by News on 07/12/2018
Derrick Favors scores 24 points and Joe Ingles added 18 more as the Utah Jazz handed the Houston Rockets a humbling 27-point loss.
Houston Rockets 91-118 Utah Jazz
Derrick Favors recorded a double-double off the bench and Joe Ingles helped shoulder the early load on offense as the Utah Jazz continued their strong play with a 118-91 demolition of the Houston Rockets on Thursday in Salt Lake City.
Utah (13-13) has won 5 of 7 games to reach .500 for the first time since November 17.
Favors finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds in just 25 minutes while Ingles supplied 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting.
The Jazz lost starting center Rudy Gobert to an ejection at the 9:13 mark of the first quarter and received only six points from Donovan Mitchell yet coasted to victory against the listless Rockets, leading by as many as 37 points.
James Harden paced the Rockets with 15 points but shot 5 of 16 from the floor and recorded seven turnovers. Chris Paul had five turnovers and five assists to go along with his 12 points.
Clint Capela added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Rockets, who are 1-5 over their past six road games.
Houston (11-13) have lost six of their past eight games.
Phoenix Suns 86-108 Portland Trail Blazers
Damian Lillard scored 25 points and dished out eight assists despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter as the Portland Trail Blazers rolled past the visiting Phoenix Suns 108-86.
Jake Layman came off the bench to score a career-high 24 points on 10-for-13 shooting and grab seven rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who snapped a three-game losing streak.
Troy Daniels scored 15 points for Phoenix, who have lost seven in a row. Josh Jackson had 14 points while Deandre Ayton added 11 points and eight boards for the Suns.
The Blazers, who had lost eight of their previous 11 games, led the entire way after a 2-0 deficit, forging a 34-9 advantage after one quarter.
They built a 31-point lead in the fourth quarter and finished with a 56-41 advantage in the rebound battle.
Lillard was 8 of 14 from the field. Both he and Layman knocked down 3-of-5 attempts from beyond the arc.
The Suns shot 38.5 per cent from the field and made only 5 of 27 shots from three-point range.
Portland played without guard CJ McCollum, who sat out the game with an ankle injury.
New York Knicks 100-128 Boston Celtics
Kyrie Irving collected 22 points and eight assists as the host Boston Celtics recorded a wire-to-wire 128-100 victory over the New York Knicks on Thursday night to extend their winning streak to four games.
Irving recorded his 15th game with at least 20 points and led Boston in scoring for the 13th time.
Irving shot 9-of-15 and hit three-pointers as the Celtics matched a season-best by shooting 53.3 per cent and reached 120 points for the fourth time.
Irving ended the game wearing an ice wrap on his right shoulder as the Celtics set a season high in points and in assists with 32.
Jaylen Brown added a season-best 21 and shot 7-of-10 after sitting out the last three games with a back injury. Al Horford added 19 and a season-high 12 rebounds while Jayson Tatum contributed 17 for the Celtics.
Tim Hardaway Jr scored 22 points for the Knicks, who lost their second straight since an overtime win over Milwaukee on Saturday. Emmanuel Mudiay added 17 and Enes Kanter contributed 14 as the Knicks shot 39.6 per cent.
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(c) Sky News 2018: NBA round-up: Utah Jazz thrash sorry Houston Rockets
