By ,
Published January 13, 2015
The Houston Rockets will try to get back on track Wednesday night when they welcome the Phoenix Suns to the Toyota Center.
The Rockets had a five-game winning streak snapped Monday night when they lost in Salt Lake City to the Utah Jazz, 109-103. The loss also halted a two-game road winning streak.
"We just weren't ready to play," said head coach Kevin McHale. "They got a big lead. We kind of fought back a few times and tried to take it from them, but they gained a lot of confidence and they made some big shots. We could never get our hands back on the game."
The Jazz built a 13-point lead after the first quarter and held the Rockets to 48 percent shooting. Utah shot 54.4 percent from the field and 58.8 percent from beyond the arc.
James Harden led the Rockets with 37 points and eight assists. Dwight Howard had 15 points and Francisco Garcia, Omri Casspi and Aaron Brooks each scored 13 points.
The Rockets were without Jeremy Lin (sprained right knee) and Chandler Parsons (back spasms).
"We had plenty of guys to win this game today. It had nothing to do with who wasn't there. It's the guys who were here and how they played," acknowledged McHale.
The Suns will complete a two-game road trip Wednesday. Phoenix got pounded by the Memphis Grizzlies, 110-91 Tuesday at FedExForum in a game where it was ahead by eight at the half.
Memphis clobbered the Suns, 36-20 in the third quarter to turn an eight-point deficit into an eight-point lead. The Grizz cruised in the fourth and outscored Phoenix 64-37 in the second half.
"The second half was terrible ... We need a better effort on defense and need to be tougher," said Suns coach Jeff Hornacek.
Marcus Morris led the Suns with 18 points, followed by 16 from Goran Dragic, 11 from Miles Plumlee and 10 from Markieff Morris.
The Suns have dropped two in a row to fall back to .500. They allowed the Utah Jazz their first road victory of the season on Saturday, and head back home for four of their next five after Wednesday.
The teams split last season's four matchups with the home team winning each time. Phoenix has lost two straight and four of its last five in Houston.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/suns-end-quick-trip-in-houston