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Utah Jazz vs. Houston Rockets: Keys to bouncing back from a tough loss

HOUSTON, TX - NOVEMBER 5: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz and Chris Paul #3 of the Houston Rockets talk after the game on November 5, 2017 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - NOVEMBER 5: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz and Chris Paul #3 of the Houston Rockets talk after the game on November 5, 2017 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
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HOUSTON, TX – NOVEMBER 5: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz and Chris Paul #3 of the Houston Rockets talk after the game on November 5, 2017 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX – NOVEMBER 5: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz and Chris Paul #3 of the Houston Rockets talk after the game on November 5, 2017 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Utah Jazz will be in for an uphill battle if they hope to get back to their winning ways against the Houston Rockets on Thursday.

The Utah Jazz lost in about the most disappointing fashion possible on Tuesday night when they visited the Oklahoma City Thunder. Yes, there were a lot of justifiable reasons for the loss – they were on the second night of a back-to-back, they were playing on the road, they were without Joe Johnson and Rodney Hood and Rudy Gobert was playing just his second game back from injury, and the Thunder played phenomenally in the fourth quarter. Truly, the list goes on and on.

However, none of those reasons change the fact that the Jazz were very much in control for over three-fourths of the game, leading by as much as 17 in the second half and 12 at the end of three. For them to drop that game in the way that they did was absolutely a blown opportunity. There was no excuse.

And even though it was just one game and a tough one at that, not to mention a game that I had actually predicted them to lose going in, that doesn’t change the fact that it was a loss that could be quite damaging down the road. Considering how tightly contested the Western Conference is and will be for the final playoff spots, the Jazz simply can’t afford to lose winnable games.

So with that backdrop, the Jazz will look to move on and bounce back against a much more formidable team than the Thunder on Thursday night as they host the Western Conference-leading Houston Rockets on the late-night game on TNT. Houston has been on an absolute tear of late as they’ve won seven in a row and are undefeated since Chris Paul returned to action. Their backcourt duo of Paul and James Harden have looked nearly unstoppable and the role players have excelled as well.

Thus, in other words, the Utah Jazz are going to very much have their work cut out for them when Houston comes to town. There’s no questioning that they are considerable underdogs in this contest, so if they’re going to have any chance at all of winning, coming up big in these three keys is going to be absolutely essential.

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