Kevin Porter Jr. (24 points, 5 assists) led the Houston Rockets back from a 19-point deficit in the second half, but it wasn’t quite enough to secure a victory in Utah on an off night by Jalen Green. The Jazz ultimately held on to win Wednesday’s game, 109-101 (box score).
Porter connected on 10-of-22 shots (45.5%) and scored 15 of his points in the fourth quarter. But Green, who scored 17 points, made just 6-of-20 (30.0%) shots for the game. The Rockets were -3 in Porter’s 35 minutes and -19 in Green’s 36 minutes. Houston came within two points in the closing minutes but never tied or took the lead.
The Jazz (4-1) were led by veteran forward Lauri Markkanen, who recovered from an inefficient night in Monday’s loss to the Rockets (1-4) to score a team-high 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting (66.7%). Markkanen also grabbed 9 rebounds in his 34 minutes played.
Veteran guard Eric Gordon added 16 points for the Rockets on 6-of-12 shooting (50.0%). Jabari Smith Jr. (10 points, 9 rebounds) and KJ Martin (11 points, 10 rebounds) each had solid games on the interior for an undersized Houston group that was missing Alperen Sengun (illness) and Bruno Fernando (left knee soreness).
Scroll on for highlights, analysis and postgame interviews. The Rockets will play game two of their four-city road trip on Friday night at Portland (4-1), with the tip set for 9:00 p.m. Central.