The Utah Jazz Lost to the Houston Rockets By 45 Points

The visiting Houston Rockets were unwelcome guests in Utah last night, as they handed the Jazz their worst home loss in franchise history (a 125-80 shellacking.) The Salt Lake Tribune sifts through the wreckage: “It was the worst home loss in franchise history by 12 points, and the fifth worse overall including the years in New Orleans and the most lopsided since a 46-point insult to the eventual-champion Lakers in 2000 — a game in which the Jazz started Olden Polynice at center and one of the rare nights current assistant coach Jeff Hornacek didn’t even attempt a 3-pointer. How did they achieve such a feat this time around? ‘We were terrible,’ head coach Tyrone Corbin said. […] The Utah Jazz were booed by the 18,387 fans present at EnergySolutions Arena starting midway through a second quarter in which they were outscored 29-17, starting the onslaught. ‘If I was them,’ said center Al Jefferson, who scored 10 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. ‘I would have booed us, too. That’s what we love about our fans. They’re going to tell us the truth. We should have been booing ourselves.’ The game was tied at 22 late in the first quarter, but the Jazz were outscored 103-57 in the final 37 minutes. James Harden scored 25 points to lead the Rockets, while center Omer Asik pulled down 19 rebounds. […] The Jazz were without reserve guard Gordon Hayward, who leads one of the most efficient benches in the NBA. Hayward was held out after suffering a shoulder sprain late in overtime of the Jazz’s 114-110 win over the Pacers on Saturday. […] ‘We could have had Michael Jordan in his prime with us tonight,’ Jefferson said. ‘If we played the way we played, it wouldn’t matter.'”