Utah @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 26, 2018 ) Houston 96, Utah 85

The Houston Rockets dominated Utah in four meetings during the regular season, but most of the encounters came before the Jazz turned their campaign around. Utah continued its late-season run with a six-game triumph over Oklahoma City in the first round of the playoffs and they will try to give the top-seeded Rockets a test in the Western Conference semifinals, beginning with Game 1 on Sunday in Houston.

Rookie Donovan Mitchell scored 38 points to lift the fifth-seeded Jazz to the 96-91 win in the clincher on Friday at home and he appears ready to stand up to the Rockets' dominant backcourt of James Harden and Chris Paul, which will be critical with the loss of fellow guard Ricky Rubio. "The things that Donovan did tonight, the team needed," coach Quin Snyder told reporters of Mitchell, who provided 22 of his points in a pivotal third quarter. "That's who he's been. He's been a team-first guy, and sometimes the team needs a guy to take things on his shoulders. In that third quarter, obviously, he was dynamic." Houston needed five games to get past the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round and it found its offense by averaging 120.5 points in the final two games. Harden averaged 29 points and 7.4 assists while Paul posted 19 points and 6.6 assists per contest in the series for the Rockets, who lost the last four times they faced Utah in the playoffs - the most recent encounter coming in 2008.

TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC

ABOUT THE JAZZ: Utah did not escape the first round unscathed as point guard Rubio left Friday's win with a hamstring injury in the first quarter. Reports surfaced Saturday that suggested Rubio - who averaged 14 points, 7.3 rebounds and seven assists in the series - could miss up to 10 days. Joe Ingles averaged 14.2 points while making 46.7 percent of his 3-point attempts in the series with Oklahoma City and he stepped up his play-making when Rubio departed to produce a team-high five assists Friday.

ABOUT THE ROCKETS: Veteran forward Luc Mbah a Moute missed the first round due to a dislocated right shoulder but the key reserve hopes to return for Game 1 against the Jazz. "Luc is a huge part of what we're trying to do," Harden told reporters. "We've been missing him. Luckily we got past the first round, but in order to get where we want to go, he's going to be a big part of that." A big part of Houston's success in the first round was center Clint Capela, who averaged 15.8 points on 67.3 percent shooting, 14.2 rebounds and two blocked shots against Minnesota.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Rockets won the four regular-season meetings by an average of 17.5 points.

2. Harden averaged 34.3 points against the Jazz in the regular season, while Mitchell was held to 16.3.

3. Including the first round, Houston has won 23 of its last 24 home games.

PREDICTION: Rockets 107, Jazz 100