The Houston Rockets were without three starters and two former MVPs on Jan. 27 for the second half of a road back-to-back, all against a Utah Jazz squad that had won 19 of its last 21 games.
With a gritty and determined effort on both sides of the court, the scrappy and shorthanded Rockets found a way to win, anyway.
Eric Gordon scored a career-high 50 points in the absence of Harden, Westbrook, and Capela, and the undermanned Rockets won in Salt Lake City, 126-117 (box score). Gordon made an astonishing 14-of-22 shots (63.6%) from the field, and 6-of-11 (54.5%) were 3-pointers.
ERIC GORDON 🔥
50 PTS (14-22 FG)Rockets beat the Jazz without Harden & Westbrook! pic.twitter.com/CtWpFazdAo
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) January 28, 2020
Rather than replace Capela with a more traditional center such as Isaiah Hartenstein or Tyson Chandler, the Rockets started 6-foot-5 P.J. Tucker in the middle. That forced Utah’s defensive anchor, Rudy Gobert, to abandon the paint at times and defend out to the 3-point line — and it set the table for Houston’s permanent switch to a smaller lineup in February.
The increased floor spacing opened driving lanes for the likes of Gordon and Austin Rivers, who set a 2019-20 season high with 21 points.
Danuel House Jr., who started at power forward with Tucker sliding to center, also scored 21 points — but his biggest contribution was a career-high 11 rebounds. Despite going smaller, Houston still outrebounded Utah, 40-38, led by 11 rebounds by House and 10 from Tucker.
[lawrence-related id=23144]