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At 28-28, the Rockets sit 0.5 games ahead of the Utah Jazz at 27-28.
Houston is hoping that their win over Phoenix springboards them back into at least a semblance of last year's form. Utah is hoping to take an injury-plagued team coached by a man who looks like he just got over a substance addiction into the playoffs to use as a valuable learning tool for its young core.
Rodney Hood has emerged as a real scorer for the Jazz, averaging over 18 points per game since the calendar turned to 2016. Gordon Hayward is certainly capable of taking over offensively. And Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert have given Houston fits in the past. The Jazz recently acquired Shelvin Mack, and all he did in his first game with the team was drop 16 points on 7-11 shooting.
All-in-all, it will take a team game for Houston to stay in the playoff picture while hunting for a higher seed.
Apologies for the short preview. It's been a rough couple of weeks. Luckily the rest of the TDS crew has written tons of fun things for you to read, especially regarding a certain someone's return to the Rockets.
Tip-off is at 8pm CST.
Rockets vs Jazz coverage