Desperation won’t be limited simply to beleaguered Jazz
SALT LAKE CITY — With the Utah Jazz to take the floor on their homecourt Sunday down 2-1 in the best-of-seven second-round series, the Rockets knew they could expect a “desperate” team. They pledged to have that in common.
“Come out desperate too,” P.J. Tucker said of the response needed to the Jazz urgency the Rockets expect. “They're desperate. We're desperate to win a championship.
“We haven’t done anything. We just kind of got back even, losing at home, winning one here. We still have a lot of work ahead of us. We know they’re going to keep coming back at us with everything we got. We have to be ready.”
With a win, the Rockets would head home with a 3-1 lead having not lost three straight all season, other than in the late December five-game losing streak when Chris Paul, Clint Capela and Luc Mbah a Moute were out. But they said they go into Game 4 on Sunday driven by the memory of the Game 2 loss.
“We’re desperate as well,” Rockets guard James Harden said. “We’re desperate. We let Game 2 slip away. We came in here, had a pretty good game in Game 3. We have to do the same thing. We’re just as desperate. We didn’t do anything but get homecourt advantage back.”
The Rockets’ response to that loss led to a quick knockout as they built a 30-point first half lead. The key now, they said, is not to let up after a blowout as they had after the rout in Game 1.
“We should be desperate, just like them,” coach Mike D’Antoni said. “That’s what the playoffs are all about, if we can do it again. Same keys as yesterday tomorrow, having energy and getting after it defensively and seeing what we can do.”
No concern about letdown in Game 4
Though the Rockets struggled and lost Game 2 against the Jazz after a Game 1 blowout, coach Mike D’Antoni was not concerned about a similar letdown in Game 4 on Sunday after the Rockets blowout win on Friday.
Besides learning a lesson from the loss Wednesday at Toyota Center, he said he did not think the Rockets played very well in Game 1 even though they scored 64 first-half points and led by as much as 27.
“The biggest thing is the energy level of the playoffs and having that desperation,” D’Antoni said. “When we have that, we’re pretty good. We were a little complacent in the second game. We didn’t have a great game Game 1 but we won fairly easily. We were kind of lulled in to making hard shots. That’s not going to last all the time.
“We’re back to where we should be. That’s energy. That’s playing with a purpose.”
Rubio questionable to play Sunday
Jazz point guard Ricky Rubio, who missed the first three games of the series with a strained left hamstring, was upgraded to questionable for Sunday’s Game 4. Forward/ center Derrick Favors was also listed as questionable with a sprained left ankle.
Rubio’s absence was especially conspicuous in Game 3 with the Rockets swarming to defend Donovan Mitchell, limiting Utah’s rookie star to 4 of 16 shooting and just four assists.
Mitchell was especially harsh in describing his play on Friday, saying the Jazz would have been better off without him.
“I’m taking terrible shots,” Mitchell said. “I can’t just shoot terrible shots. That’s what leads to their transition (offense). I don’t know how many shots I missed, but they were terrible shots.”
Jazz coach Quin Snyder, however, said that while Mitchell’s accountability offered a good example, many aspects of the Jazz offense needs to improve.
“That’s Donovan,” Snyder told the media after Saturday’s Jazz video session. “There’s a sincerity with that for him. But he’s asked to do a lot. It doesn’t let anyone off the hook. He made sure of that by how he handled it. But we can’t hang everything on Donovan and hope he makes enough plays to push us through. Donovan has a role that is important. It’s a big role. But we have to be spaced right. We have to do all the little things right so Donovan can be in position he can have higher percentage plays.”
Snyder described Mitchell’s attitude as good, but also “realistic, somber” on Saturday.
“There wasn’t a lot there for him,” Snyder said. “He can make other reads. He has. It stands to reason a rookie can have a bad game in the middle of the playoffs against the best team with Trevor Ariza guarding him and them switching. It’s going to happen. But at the same point, there is no reason to accept that. For him, it’s let’s look at what happened.”