Houston Rockets at Utah Jazz

Alperen Sengun has 33 points and 10 rebounds as Rockets beat Jazz 121-110

The Rockets have a two-game lead over the third-place Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference standings with a little more than two weeks left in the regular season.

Jalen Green added 21 points and Tari Eason scored 15 for Houston.

Collin Sexton led Utah with 21 points. Keyonte George scored 17, Isaiah Collier and Kyle Filipowski had 16 apiece and Brice Sensabaugh added 15.

Takeaways Rockets: The game began an eight-game stretch for the Rockets that includes only two home contests as they seek to hold off the Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis for the Western Conference’s No. 2 playoff seed.

Jazz: While Utah lost for the 14th time in 15 games, Collier has provided some reason for hope by scoring well above his season average lately. Two nights after scoring 21 points against Memphis, Collier had 16 more while shooting 7 of 12.

Key moment After Sexton sank a 3-pointer to cut the Rockets’ lead to 105-102 with 3:36 left, Thompson scored 18 seconds later to spark a 6-0 run that gave the Rockets some breathing room.

Key stat Houston outrebounded Utah 58-40 — 18-3 on the offensive glass — and had a 30-8 advantage in second-chance points.

Up next The Rockets play the Suns in Phoenix on Sunday. The Jazz kick off a five-game road trip Friday when the play the Denver Nuggets.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1