When Houston’s offense gets going Kenny Golladay Jersey , the Rockets are nearly impossible to beat.

James Harden had 25 points and 12 assists to lead Houston to a 113-92 win over Utah in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinals series on Friday night.

Eric Gordon added 25 points and Chris Paul had 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Rockets. Houston beat Utah in Salt Lake City for the third time this season to take a 2-1 series lead. Game 4 is on Sunday.

The Rockets attacked the Jazz everywhere en route to rolling up 70 points before halftime. When Utah drove Houston off the perimeter, it yielded repeated slashes to the rim for layups. When the Jazz dropped back in to shore up the interior, the Rockets came up with well-timed 3-pointers to keep the heat on.

”We’re just not going to force anything,” Harden said. ”Whatever they give us, we’re going to take and we’re going to have confidence in our guys and we’re going to make shots.

Royce O’ Neale scored 17 points. Alec Burks chipped in 14 points while Rudy Gobert added 12 points and nine rebounds for the Jazz.

Utah never got on track on offense. The Jazz shot poorly over the first three quarters and committed 16 turnovers. Houston scored 19 points off those miscues.

”I thought our defense was superb,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. ”We were hitting shots all over the place. We just got a hold of it, kept the crowd out of it and kept them on their heels. You could see the guys feeding off good defense after good defense. When you do that and your energy is right, the shots start to go down and good things happen.”

Houston could not have scripted a much better start than what the Rockets produced on Friday night.

A listless first-half effort ultimately sealed Houston’s fate in Game 2. The Rockets avoided enduring another slow start by clamping down on defense and playing efficient offense.

Houston picked apart Utah’s defense practically from the opening tip. The Rockets opened the game by scoring baskets on six of their first seven possessions. Harden capped the flurry with his first basket to put Houston up 15-5.

It only grew worse for the Jazz from there. The Rockets led by as many as 22 in the first quarter, taking a 37-15 lead on back-to-back baskets from Harden and Gerald Green.

Houston made 16 of its 26 shots in the first quarter and totaled 39 points in the period.

”They were focused and determined to do what they wanted to do Demarcus Lawrence Jersey ,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder said. ”We just didn’t provide enough resistance in a lot of areas.”

As effective as the Rockets were on offense, their defense proved equally troublesome for Utah. Houston forced the Jazz to commit six turnovers before the start of the second quarter and scored nine points off those turnovers.

”They just took us out of our rhythm and we can’t let that happen,” guard Donovan Mitchell said. ”They were the aggressor all night and we got to be able to understand they’re gonna be aggressive and we’ve got to be able to counter.”

Utah cut Houston’s lead 49-34 midway through the second quarter after O’ Neale scored three straight baskets to fuel a 9-0 run. Clint Capela ended the run with a dunk and the Rockets proceeded to outscore the Jazz 31-9 over a 10 minute stretch extending into the third quarter.

They pushed their lead to 80-43 on a driving layup from Ariza with 8:01 left in the quarter.

TIP-INS:

Rockets: Gordon finished with a postseason-high in points. …Houston did not commit a turnover in the first quarter. … The Rockets outscored the Jazz 20-10 in fastbreak points after totaling just five in Game 2. … Houston finished with 50 points in the paint for the second straight game.

Jazz: Derrick Favors exited with an ankle sprain in the third quarter. Favors totaled two points, two rebounds and two assists in 13 minutes. … Houston’s 39 first quarter points is the most given up by Utah in any quarter in a playoff game this season. … Mitchell scored only 10 points after going just 4-of-16 from the field.

BACK TO FORM

Eric Gordon got his shooting groove back in Game 3. Gordon attacked the rim early and then hit several key 3-pointers as the game progressed. He ended up going 8-of-13 from the field and shooting 50 percent from the 3-point line.

It marked a big change of pace for Gordon who has struggled to find his shot at times during the postseason. Coming into Friday night, he had shot just 31.4 percent from the field and averaged 12.9 points over seven playoff games

”I just got to continue to be aggressive,” Gordon said. ”It doesn’t change for me.”

At the end of a sweltering afternoon, Andrew Knapp kept the Philadelphia Phillies on a red-hot streak.

Knapp hit a game-ending pinch-hit homer just inside the right field foul pole in the 13th inning as the Phillies came from behind to beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 Sunday.

”That was cool,” Knapp said. ”That was a huge team win – huge team series.”

The win was the Phillies third in this four-game set with Washington. All the wins have come by one-run margins. Over the past two weekends, Philadelphia has gone 5-2 against the two-time defending National League East champions, increasing their edge on the Nationals to three games for second place in the division.

”It shows we’re here to stay Nate Hairston Jersey ,” Knapp said. ”Obviously, there’s a lot of games left, and we have to keep playing well. But we’re up there with a lot of those teams. This was a huge series win for us, especially coming off the series win in Washington. They wanted to come here and sweep us. For us to take 3 of 4 was cool.”

The Nationals are now 6-15 in their past 21 games dating back to June 8. Washington is six games behind Atlanta for the lead in the NL East.

On Sunday, Washington managed only four hits in eight innings against the Philadelphia bullpen, never moving a baserunner past second base in that stretch while striking out seven times.

”We’ve got to start striking out less, putting the balls in play, driving in runs when we have the ability to drive in runs,” Washington manager Davey Martinez said. ”But it’ll turn. Our offense is good. I know it’s good. And I truly believe that it’ll turn around.”

Knapp ended the game when he turned on a Justin Miller fastball and lofted it into the bleachers in right field. Miller (5-1) gave up the run in 1 1/3 innings of work.

Nick Pivetta (5-7) got the win pitching a scoreless inning. Pivetta- normally a starter- was roughed up for seven runs in 1 2/3 innings of work on Friday night. He entered the game as the final pitcher that Philadelphia had available.

”He wanted the opportunity bad,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. ”I asked him and pushed him to make sure that this is something that he was going to fight for and he did.”

Washington jumped out early Jarrad Davis Jersey , scoring an unearned run in the fourth on an Anthony Rendon sacrifice fly. In the fifth, the lead expanded to 3-0 when Adam Eaton singled to right to score Daniel Murphy and Mark Reynolds.

However, Gio Gonzalez labored in the bottom of the fifth after cruising through the first four innings with only one hit and one walk allowed. He walked three guys in the fifth inning, including Cesar Hernandez with the bases loaded, that put Philadelphia on the board. Rhys Hoskins‘ sacrifice fly to right made it 3-2 then Odubel Herrera singled to score Carlos Santana to tie the game.

GAME NOTES

Knapp became the first Phillie to hit a walk-off, pinch-hit homer since Cody Asche did it back on Sept. 12, 2015 against the Chicago Cubs. Ryan Howard hit the last walk-off homer for Philadelphia back on April 29, 2016. . The Phillies bullpen posted a 0.60 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 15 innings pitched on Saturday and Sunday. .. Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez has never allowed more than three earned runs in 14 career starts at Citizens Bank Park. He has tossed five or more innings in every start.

TRAINERS ROOM

Philadelphia placed right-handed starting pitcher Vince Velasquez on the 10-day disabled list on Sunday with a right forearm contusion.

Velasquez was hit in the second inning just below the elbow on a liner back up the middle by Washington’s Adam Eaton. Velasquez would eventually record the out by picking the ball up and throwing it lefthanded to first base to get Eaton to end the inning, saving a run from scoring during Philadelphia’s 3-2 victory.

This is the fourth trip to the disabled list for Velasquez in three seasons since Philadelphia acquired him.

In addition to Velasquez’s trip to the disabled list, the Phillies optioned lefthanded reliever Zac Curtis to Triple A Lehigh Valley. They recalled right-handed reliever Jake Thompson and reinstated reliever Pat Neshek from the 10-day disabled list. Neshek Tre'Davious White Jersey , who was signed by the Phillies during the off-season, has been on the disabled list since Opening Day with a forearm injury.

UP NEXT

Nationals: Washington returns home on Monday night to begin a three-game interleague series against the Boston Red Sox. RHP Max Scherzer (10-4, 2.04 ERA) will face former Detroit teammate Rick Porcello in a battle of former Cy Young Award winners.

Phillies: Philadelphia has Monday off, but will begin a brief two-game interleague series at home against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night. Zach Eflin (6-2, 3.02 ERA) will get the start against Baltimore’s Alex Cobb.

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