Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka hoped his team would rediscover its early-season form upon returning from the All-Star break this weekend.
“Just overall getting back to what we did early, which was being aggressive and putting teams back on their heels,” he said before the Rockets’ Friday home game against Minnesota. “We’ve had chances to win a lot of those games we lost in this little stretch here. We need to get our swagger back, our confidence back and get in attack mode.”
A night after that happened in a 121-115 welcome-back win over the Timberwolves, the Rockets will get a quick opportunity to repeat the feat when they travel to Salt Lake City to oppose the Utah Jazz on Saturday night.
Not only did the Rockets get a bit of their swagger back on a night when Jalen Green scored 35, Alperen Sengun had 24 points and 13 rebounds and Amen Thompson compiled 17 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, but they also got some payback after two recent losses to the Timberwolves.
Winners of three of their past four, the Rockets also saw the return of Jabari Smith Jr., who totaled 15 points and nine rebounds in a reserve role after missing 22 games with a broken left hand.
“I think he’s easy (to play) because he checks a lot of boxes and we can put him in a lot of places,” Udoka said when talking about Smith coming off the bench.
“I think overall just his skill set and what he brings to the table — the rim protection and rebounding and some of the things that have dropped off with him being out — will be a welcome sight to be back.”
The Saturday game will be the first of three between Utah and Houston in the next six weeks.
The Jazz are also set to complete a back-to-back set, having taken a 130-107 defeat against the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder in their first game back from the All-Star break on Friday.
Utah has dropped five of its past six games.
“It was a good kind of welcome back after All-Star break,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said after the Friday loss. “I’m glad we have another game (Saturday).”
Veterans John Collins (26 points) and Jordan Clarkson (19 points) had strong offensive games against the West’s best team.
The Jazz also got solid efforts from their young group, which Hardy expects to see more of as the end of the season approaches.
Keyonte George netted 20 points, Isaiah Collier dished out 12 assists with nine points, Kyle Filipowski added 12 points and Walker Kessler contributed 19 rebounds against the Thunder.
“It’s time to graduate. I don’t think the rookies are rookies anymore,” Hardy said, referring to Collier and Filipowski. “They’ve had a lot of experience.”
The Jazz also got their first look at Jaden Springer, who signed a 10-day contract this week. He registered seven points and two assists in his 11-minute Utah debut.
“I wouldn’t say I was surprised. I was ready for whatever,” Springer said. “It’s been pretty good. They’ve done a good job of getting me up to speed.”
Being on the court with so many young players is exciting for Springer, who’s only 22 but has been around the NBA since 2021.
“I think it’s fun. It’s a young team,” he said. “We definitely had some good spurts out there tonight. I can definitely see this team growing and getting better.”
–Field Level Media
