ROUND TWO

An early look at the Rockets vs. Jazz NBA playoff series

Seth Livingston
SportsMap staff
Apr 27, 2018, 8:05 am
James Harden and the Rockets will get Utah in Round 2. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The Rockets know their next opponent in the 2018 playoffs. 

The Utah Jazz beat Oklahoma City 96-91 to wrap up their series Friday night. Utah, the five seed, finished 48-34, but were one of the hottest teams in basketball down the stretch. The strength for Utah is defense, as the Jazz ranked second in the NBA.

The Rockets swept the season series between the teams, but most of the games were early on. The Jazz will be facing a quick turnaround, as Game 1 is Sunday afternoon at Toyota Center. They also might be without point guard Ricky Rubio, who left Friday night's game with a hamstring injury.

The complete series schedule will not be determined until the Boston-Milwaukee series is settled, but Game 2 will be Wednesday at Toyota Center.

What to watch for the Jazz: Center Rudy Gobert will represent a serious matchup problem for the Rockets, but then so did Karl-Anthony Towns and we saw haw that worked out. Rubio played at a high level throughout the Thunder series, and his availability will be key. Rookie star Donovan Mitchell had 38 points in the win over the Thunder Friday night and averaged 20.5 points per game in the regular season and upped that to 28.5 in the opening playoff series. The two teams have a long playoff history, but that was a long time ago and does not include any current players. The Jazz will offer a nice test, and their defense might win them a game or two, but the Rockets have too much firepower and should advance.

Game 1 details

Time: 2:30 p.m.

Site: Toyota Center.

TV: ABC

 

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Houston's celebration has to wait

Rangers get walk-off win over Astros who continue to wait for playoff berth

Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images

UPDATE: With the Angels loss on Friday night, the Astros have secured their playoff berth. They will be part of the MLB postseason for their fourth-straight season.

After the big offensive showing to take the opener on Thursday, the Astros entered Friday's game at Globe Life Field against the Rangers just one win or Angels loss away from securing their spot in the playoffs. Here is how the game unfolded:

Final Score (10 innings): Rangers 5, Astros 4.

Record: 29-29, second in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Brett Martin (1-1, 1.98 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Enoli Paredes (3-3, 3.05 ERA).

Urquidy goes seven while allowing two

The Rangers would strike first in Friday's game, getting a two-out solo home run against Jose Urquidy in the bottom of the second to grab the early 1-0 lead. Urquidy did relatively well on the night, though he would allow another solo homer in the bottom of the fifth. Those were the only two runs he allowed, working in and out of some trouble throughout the game on his way to finishing seven innings. His final line: 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 2 HR, 98 P.

Houston grabs their first lead late

Unlike their hot night at the plate the night prior, it took the Astros until the fifth inning to get on the board. It came after Carlos Correa hit a leadoff single, then came all the way around to score on an RBI-triple by George Springer, making it a 1-1 tie at the time.

After the Rangers went back in front 2-1 in the bottom of the inning on their second solo homer of the night, Alex Bregman would tie it up again with a solo home run of his own, making it 2-2. Houston would get their first lead of the night in the top of the eighth, with Altuve working a leadoff walk before scoring later in the inning on an RBI-single by Yuli Gurriel.

Rangers get the walk-off to keep Houston waiting for playoff bid

After Urquidy, Blake Taylor would take over on the mound in the bottom of the eighth, retiring the Rangers in order for a scoreless inning to hold the one-run lead. Still 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth, Houston turned to their closer, Ryan Pressly. After two quick outs, he would allow a game-tying solo home run, making it 3-3 to postpone Houston's celebration at least another inning as the game headed to extras.

In the top of the tenth, Jose Altuve was placed on second as the free runner. He advanced to third on a groundout to start the inning, then scored on a sac fly by Alex Bregman, making it a 4-3 lead for Houston. Enoli Paredes would load the bases before Texas would tie the game on a sac fly in the bottom of the inning, keeping runners on second and third. Houston made the change to Brooks Raley to try and extend the game another inning, but instead, the Rangers would get the walk-off win, spoiling Houston's chance to clinch their playoff spot themselves with a win.

Up Next: The third game of this four-game set will get underway at 6:05 PM Central on Saturday. On the mound for Texas will be Kyle Gibson (2-6, 5.87 ERA), and, as of now, the Astros still have Lance McCullers Jr. (3-3, 4.24 ERA) listed as their starter.

astros recap astros score astros vs rangers rangers score rangers recap jose urquidy mlb mlb recap astros playoff astros

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