Playing the final game on Day 2 of the 2019 postseason, the Houston Rockets ensured there would be no more upsets after the three on Day 1.
Facing the fifth-seeded Utah Jazz in a rematch of last year's Conference Semifinals, the fourth-seeded Rockets took a 1-0 series lead with a comfortable 32-point win at home.
Here are the biggest takeaways from Game 1 of this series...
Harden and CP3 control Rockets' offense
Unlike a majority of the season, James Harden didn't have to do everything for the team on offense in Game 1, but he was still on fire.
Recording a near triple-double with 29 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in 32 minutes, Harden did a majority of his damage — 17 points and seven assists — in the first half.
🚀 @JHarden13 lifts the @HoustonRockets to a 1-0 series lead with 29 PTS, 10 AST, 8 REB in Game 1 at home! #RunAsOne #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/MPc2tDEj5y
— NBA (@NBA) April 15, 2019
The Jazz did slow down the Beard slightly, limiting him to only three free-throw attempts (11.0 season average), but couldn't stop his overall impact.
His backcourt mate Chris Paul had a steady game, recording 14 points and seven assists on 7-of-12 shooting. The starting duo had 17 of the team's 25 assists.
The Jazz's offensive woes
During the regular season, the Jazz averaged the fourth-most turnovers per game in the league at 15.1. They beat that average in Game 1, committing 19 with their two best players — Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert — combining for nine.
Gobert had a super efficient (8-of-10 shooting) double-double of 22 points and 12 rebounds, but the same can't be said for Mitchell, who put up 19 on 7-of-18 shooting from the field (38.9 percent) while recording zero assists.
As a team, the Jazz only made seven 3s on 25.9 percent efficiency. For a team that made 46.8 percent of their shots during the regular season, the Jazz were way off that mark as well, only making 39.0 percent of their shots from the field.
Eventually, the team suffered a huge defeat despite going 23-of-27 from the charity stripe.
Jazz's defense struggles to contain the Rockets
While the Jazz struggled, the Rockets hit their season averages and then some.
Shooting 50.5 percent from the field and 36.6 percent from beyond the arc on 15 makes, the Rockets registered their second-biggest postseason win (32) in franchise history.
Although they were held to just 12 free-throw attempts for the game, half of their season average, the Rockets made 11 of them.
The Jazz, who had the league's second-best defense during the regular season, allowed the Rockets to score 60 points in the paint and 22 points on their 19 turnovers.
House Jr. & Faried provide the spark off the bench
Danuel House Jr. and Kenneth Faried combined for 22 points, outscoring the Jazz's bench by themselves.
CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF 🚀 pic.twitter.com/obIn1upUGj
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) April 15, 2019
They had a few rim-shattering dunks and 3-point makes, proving to be a huge spark off the bench for the Rockets.
In 26 minutes, House Jr. was a +21 while Faried was a +8 in 11 minutes on the court.
