West Conf. Semis Game 4: Houston Rockets 100 - 87 Utah Jazz - 5 Talking Points

The Vivint Smart Home Arena played host to what could plausibly be the Jazz's final home game of the postseason as the Utah Jazz dropped their second consecutive game in Salt Lake City to go 1-3 down in the Western Conference Semifinals against the top-seeded Houston Rockets.

There was no shortage of feistiness on the night, as both teams played physical playoff basketball for the most part and star rookie Donovan Mitchell fouled out late in the game.

The Rockets took an early lead and never relinquished it through the length of the game. While this game may not be the best advertisement for playoff basketball, the Rockets have shown in the previous round that they are eminently capable of winning in ugly fashion during the postseason as well - this was just another exhibit to add to that catalogue.

The usual suspects for both teams had a good game, but the result ultimately came down to the Rockets' superior depth chart, as well as the superior quality of their role players and stars. The following are 5 talking points from what was a pivotal game 4:

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#5 Injury troubles affected the Jazz lineups on the night

Dante Exum had hamstring issues in the third quarter

While Ricky Rubio was only listed as 'questionable' a day prior to tip-off, preliminary tests before the game gave him a red light and he was ruled out of the Jazz rotation on the night. Rubio has not played thus far in this series and barring game 2, when Donovan Mitchell had the lion's share of playmaking responsibilities, the Jazz have been visibly affected on both ends of the floor by Rubio's injury-enforced absence.

The situation took a turn for the worse early in the first quarter when Royce O'Neale picked up a nasty knock on a knee-to-knee contact with Clint Capela. He was forced out and coach Quin Snyder had to substitute Dante Exum into his rotation earlier than he'd planned. O'Neal was able to shake off the impact injury and make a return in the second half, but there was more misfortune for the Jazz to follow.

With over 5 and a half minutes left in the 3rd quarter, Dante Exum flexed his left hamstring a little too tightly, and he had to hobble off the floor and had no more role to play in the game. The pull looks nasty enough to possibly rule him out of at least Game 5 based on the eye test, though we will have to wait for the Jazz medical team to release an official report for confirmation.

All-in-all, it was not a great night for the Jazz players' health.

#4 It was a highly charged, physical battle low on offensive quality

Nene tussles for the ball

The Jazz have earned the reputation of being perhaps the most hostile hosts in the NBA through the course of this postseason, and for much of the game, the crowd was a factor. The continuous bay for blood by the attending fans possibly led to some extremely physical basketball, and the quality of offense from both teams suffered as a result.

The Rockets started the night off in typical fashion, scoring 30 points in the first quarter. But they cooled off after that, and their overall shooting was way below-par for a historically efficient offense (they shot 42% of their field goal attempts and only 26.3% of their 3s).

The Jazz were even more beggarly on the night, with possibly their worst postseason showing on offense thus far. As a team, they shot just 32-of-83 from the floor (38.6%) and a toxic 7-of-29 from downtown (24.1%).

No NBA team stands a chance to win any game - let alone in high-stakes playoff basketball - with such shooting woes. There were a number of uncontested layups missed by the perimeter players on the Jazz, while Gobert's putback on an unintentional 3-pointer by Ingles was ruled to be offensive interference.

#3 The Rockets' backcourt comes through on a tough offensive night

Birthday boy Chris Paul had a night to remember on the court

The Rockets struggled to get any sort of shooting rhythm going as a roster on the night, as their role players were not up to the mark from the perimeter. Barring Capela, Harden and Paul, they were unable to move the scoreline by much, as Ariza, Gordon and Mbah a Moute were below par on the night.

Perhaps it is just as well that the former trio was on point last night, and their backcourt, in particular, came to play. James Harden and Chris Paul combined for 51 of the Rockets' 100-point total, and they took over scoring duties whenever the Jazz tried to mount/complete a comeback on the scoreline on a night when the road team never relinquished the lead.

Harden's field goal percentage of 36.4% (8-of-22 from the field and 1-of-7 from downtown) is not great by any standards, but he is a master at drawing fouls, and thus added 7 points to his scoring total from the charity stripe. He finished with 24 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals and led the Rockets in +/- with a +10 rating.

Point God Chris Paul was the best perimeter player on the night, taking 23 shots to score 27 points. Though he was off from long range, he is one of the best mid-range scorers to ever play the game and that helped him keep the scoreboard ticking. Paul had 27 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals and a block on 52.2% shooting from the floor and a +/- of +10.

#2 Donovan Mitchell was trying too hard in a hopeless cause

Mitchell had his moments but was too predictable

For a team with such limited options as the Utah Jazz, the role of a scorer is doubly important in the playoffs. In the first 3 games of this series, Mitchell had performed to less than his ability, averaging 16 points on a toxic 32% field goal conversion.

He broke through that 20-point barrier this time around, but ultimately, his limitations are getting exposed on a nightly basis by a team which is playing great defense against him as a unit.

Expectations from the rookie have been sky-high thus far, which is why the ordinarily stellar box score stat line of 25 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals is tempered by his torrid shooting figures of 8-of-24 from the field (33.3%) and 2-of-7 from 3-point territory.

Mitchell did make all 7 of his free throw attempts, but this series has demonstrated the need for him to add more guile to his game.

Harden and CP3 at the other end have been masters of change of speed and direction off the dribble, and Mitchell would do well to pick up cues from these two. It is mainly in his driving game that he needs to introduce a little more sauce and spice and add a couple of hesitation/deceleration moves to his skillset.

It was his predictability that allowed Capela to block him twice in under a minute in the closing stages. The two had had a faceoff earlier on in the 4th quarter, and that possibly fueled Capela's animosity towards the rookie - Capela wagged the finger in Mitchell's face after swatting away the first of his two on Mitchell in quick succession. He fouled out shortly after this in anticlimactic fashion.

#1 Clint Capela is outplaying an elite center for the second series running

Clint Capela had 5 rejections in the final quarter of the game

While Karl-Anthony Towns is possibly the most polished scorer among all the centers in the league, he struggled to score against Capela in the short, 5-game first round elimination that the Minnesota Timberwolves had to endure.

The Swissman still on his rookie contract has been hugely impressive for the entire length of this 2017-18 Rockets campaign, and so far he has dominated a tough matchup on the interior for the second series running. While offensively, he is benefiting hugely since he shares the court with a couple of Hall of Famers, he has been a force on defense this postseason as well.

In the final stages of the 4th quarter alone, Capela recorded a staggering 5 blocks. Because their perimeter shooting looked off on the night, the Jazz tried to buy a bucket in the paint while trying to stage a desperate fightback in the closing moments.

But Capela bossed the paint with Hakeem Olajuwon looking on from the Rockets bench and snuffed out whatever little hope the Jazz had of making a comeback.

Overall, Capela finished the night with yet another impressive double-double outing, with figures of 12 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 6 blocks. The taller Rudy Gobert, on the other hand, was just unable to impose his will on the offensive end.

He did have a good defensive night (as is revealed by the Rockets' low field goal percentages) but his figures of 11 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks have been outshone by Capela in a recurring theme for the series.

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