SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Alperen Sengun had 33 points and 10 rebounds, Amen Thompson finished with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, and the Houston Rockets beat the Utah Jazz 121-110 on Thursday night.
The Rockets have a two-game lead over the third-place Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference standings with a little more than two weeks left in the regular season.
Jalen Green added 21 points and Tari Eason scored 15 for Houston.
Collin Sexton led Utah with 21 points. Keyonte George scored 17, Isaiah Collier and Kyle Filipowski had 16 apiece and Brice Sensabaugh added 15.
Takeaways
Rockets: The game began an eight-game stretch for the Rockets that includes only two home contests as they seek to hold off the Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis for the Western Conference’s No. 2 playoff seed.
Jazz: While Utah lost for the 14th time in 15 games, Collier has provided some reason for hope by scoring well above his season average lately. Two nights after scoring 21 points against Memphis, Collier had 16 more while shooting 7 of 12.
Key moment
After Sexton sank a 3-pointer to cut the Rockets’ lead to 105-102 with 3:36 left, Thompson scored 18 seconds later to spark a 6-0 run that gave the Rockets some breathing room.
Key stat
Houston outrebounded Utah 58-40 — 18-3 on the offensive glass — and had a 30-8 advantage in second-chance points.
Up next
The Rockets play the Suns in Phoenix on Sunday. The Jazz kick off a five-game road trip Friday when the play the Denver Nuggets.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
The Associated Press
