Game 82: v Utah Jazz 700pm!
Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 12:28 pm
Excuse James Harden for paying no mind to the confusing scenarios regarding the Western Conference's playoff seedings.
The MVP candidate simply is focused on helping the Houston Rockets finish the regular season with a victory over the visiting Utah Jazz on Wednesday night while letting the rest play itself out.
"I don't even look at it," Harden said. "All of the teams are basically tied and it will come down to the final game -- and we still may not know until all of the games are over."
Harden scored 29 points as the Rockets (55-26) beat Charlotte 100-90 on Monday to stay alive for their first division title since winning the franchise's first NBA championship in 1993-94.
If Houston wins and San Antonio loses Wednesday, the Rockets will win the Southwest and be the No. 2 seed in the conference. A loss could drop Houston as far down as sixth, with the Spurs and Memphis holding the tiebreakers.
A victory would clinch home-court advantage in the first round no matter the results for any other club.
The Rockets have won two of three meetings with the Jazz (38-43), but Harden shot just 37.8 percent in those contests and was held below 20 points in two of them.
"We have a final game at home and it's going to be extremely big for us," Harden said. "We have to play extremely hard and try to come out with a victory."
Dwight Howard rested against the Hornets and it's unclear if he'll be available for this contest. Donatas Motiejunas is out for the playoffs after back surgery, but the Rockets feel they have enough pieces to make a run.
Josh Smith had 16 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, and Jason Terry added 13 points. Little-used rookie Clint Capela hit all four of his shots and finished with a season-high 10 points.
"It just shows how deep we are," Smith said.
The Jazz are proving the same. Playing without Gordon Hayward (Achilles tendon), Trey Burke (back) and Derrick Favors (back) the last two games, they beat playoff-bound clubs Portland 111-105 on Saturday and Dallas 109-92 on Monday.
Utah, eliminated from playoff contention long ago, has won four of five.
"I'm proud of the fact that they've committed. And the days aren't always easy, whether it be practice or games," coach Quin Snyder said. "Whatever happens going forward, this is a season, I think, that we as a team can look at where everybody has gotten a little better through the process and we've gotten better as a group as well."
It's unclear who will be in the lineup for this contest. Rudy Gobert finished with 20 points and 17 rebounds against the Blazers, while undrafted rookie Bryce Cotton had a highlight-reel dunk off an alley-oop from Rodney Hood among his season-high 21 points.
"We're in a precarious position not being in the playoff race, but also wanting to maximize every game," Snyder said. "We did have a chance in these last two games to actually see those young men and give them a chance to play. When players play hard, it's easy to play them."
Utah dropped seven of eight meetings with Houston before winning 109-91 on March 12. Gobert had 19 points and 22 rebounds, while Harden finished with 15 points and shot 3 of 13 from the field.
Time to unleash the secret PLAYOFF WEAPON....
Time to throw this guy at opponent PGs
