Markkanen has career-best 49 as Jazz down Rockets 131-114

Updated Jan. 5, 2023 10:33 p.m. ET

Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — Lauri Markkanen scored a career-high 49 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 131-114 victory over the Houston Rockets on Thursday night that snapped a five-game skid.

Markkanen got out to a quick start with 18 points in the first quarter to help the Jazz to an early lead. Houston took the lead late in the third quarter, but Utah ended that quarter on a 10-0 run to go on top for good.

An 8-2 run cut Utah’s lead to five with about 5 minutes left. Jordan Clarkson hit a 3-pointer soon after that before a tip shot by Markkanen extended the lead to 117-107.

Jalen Green added a basket for Houston before Markkanen scored the next four points to start a 14-0 run by the Jazz that made it 131-109 and sent fans streaming for the exits.

After scoring the first four points of the run, Markkanen added consecutive 3-pointers at the end of it. Players on the Utah bench stood and cheered as he hit both of them and they were disappointed when a last 3-point attempt that would have given him 50 points was off the mark.

Green had 30 points and Kevin Porter Jr. added 23 for the Rockets, who dropped their sixth in a row.

Markkanen’s highest-scoring game entering Thursday was 38, which he had achieved twice, most recently on Dec. 20 against Detroit. He made six 3-pointers and all 13 of his free throws Thursday night to eclipse his previous best games.

Utah had a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter after a 3-pointer by Ochai Agbaji. Green got going for Houston after that, scoring six of the points in an 8-2 run that cut the lead to 105-99 with about 8 minutes to go. Green capped that stretch with a one-handed dunk.

Utah scored the next five points, with another three from Agbaji, to make it 110-99 less than a minute later.

The Rockets used an 11-4 run, with 3s from Green and Jabari Smith Jr., to cut the lead to 70-67 with about nine minutes left in the third quarter. But the Jazz made the next eight points with five from Markkanen and with the help of a turnover by the Rockets to push it to 78-67 a couple of minutes later.

Houston scored the next eight points, with the last five from Alperen Sengun, to get within 3 again with about six minutes left in the third.

The Jazz were up by 7 soon after that after a jump shot by Clarkson before a 11-3 spurt by the Rockets made it 86-85, giving them their first lead of the second half. Porter and Jae’Sean Tate made consecutive 3s to cap that run and put Houston on top.

The Rockets weren’t on top for long as Utah scored the last 10 points of the quarter, with 3-pointers from Malik Beasley and Mike Conley, to take a 95-86 lead into the fourth quarter.

TIP-INS

Jazz: Clarkson had 19 points… Conley had nine points and 11 assists. … Beasley scored 19 points off the bench.

Rockets: Tate had 11 points in his return after missing 31 games with right ankle soreness. … Sengun had 20 points and 14 rebounds. … Eric Gordon had 12 points.

UP NEXT

Jazz: Visit Chicago Saturday night.

Rockets: Host Minnesota Sunday night.

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