Eric Gordon's 17 points in the 4th helps Rockets with 14th straight

Posted: December 18, 2017 -- 11:20 pm CST.

HOUSTON, TX (Toyota Center) -- The Houston Rockets defeated the Utah Jazz 120-99 Monday night. The Rockets erupted on a 37-8 run in the fourth quarter to pick up their 14th-straight victory. The 14 consecutive wins is the fourth-longest winning streak in franchise history and one shy of tying the second-longest streak of 15 straight wins (twice).

Eric Gordon was the hero Monday night. Trailing 91-83, Gordon knocked down three consecutive three-point shots during a personal 9-0 run to give the Rockets a 92-91 lead. Then, Clint Capela converted a three-point play followed by a Trevor Ariza three-point bucket for a 15-0 run in 2 minutes and 10 seconds.

Utah's Ricky Rubio hit a three to end Utah's scoreless drought; but, Gordon banked in a runner to begin another Rockets run. Gordon added two more three-point baskets for five triples in the fourth quarter. Gordon scored 17 points in the fourth period.

Gordon scored 33 points off the bench tonight which is the most points he's scored since joining the Rockets. The last time a Rockets reserve scored at least 33 points was when Cuttino Mobley scored 33 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves October 31, 2000.

Utah scored 15 points in the fourth period.

The Rockets outscored Utah 41-15 in the final 12 minutes.

"Yeah, I got hot," Gordon acknowledged. "They (Utah Jazz) were trapping the ball screen; and, we was just finding the open man. They came up to me most of the time early on in the fourth quarter; and, it's all about knocking down shots."

In the first three quarters, the Rockets made 9 of 31 three-point shot attempts. The Rockets made 8 of 12 three-point shots in the fourth quarter: 5 from Gordon; 2 from Ariza; 1 from Harden.

Houston improves to 19-0 when making 15 or more three-point field goals this season.

The Rockets tightened up the defense in the fourth quarter as well. Utah scored 54 points in the paint through the first three quarters; but, the Rockets limited the Jazz to 4 paint points in the final quarter.

"The fourth quarter we locked down. We locked down. We got stops," Harden said after the game. "Obviously, Eric got hot; but, you know that led to us getting stops. First three quarters, we didn't get stops consistently; and, so, we really couldn't get out in transition. But, we got stops and knocked down threes. Game over."

Head Coach Mike D'Antoni says the Rockets' ability to flip the switch is a good and bad thing.

"They know they can turn it on; and, that's bad. We shouldn't have to wait until the fourth quarter to play with urgency; and, we did.

"The good thing is we can. So, it's human nature to be able to do certain things that 'Okay, we're down, now let's go.' Well, we need to go before because there are going to be nights where Gordon is unable to hit eight threes in a row or whatever. We're going to have to be able to play all the way through. We're getting away from getting out there and getting after them right at the beginning and blowing them out. Now, we're kind of waiting until the end. We're going against that; and, we'll try to do a better job."

James Harden scored 26 points tonight. Harden has scored 20 plus points in the first 29 games of this season. Harden tied Moses Malone's franchise record of consecutive games scoring 20 plus points in a single season. Harden is also the fifth player dating back to the 1963-'64 season to have scored 20 plus points  in each of the first 29 games of a season: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1970-'71); Rick Barry (1966-'67); Wilt Chamberlain (1963-'64); and LeBron James (2012-'13).

Clint Capela scored 24 points and grabbed a career-high tying 20 rebounds in tonight's game for his 16th double-double of this season. Last season, Capela had a total of 15 double-doubles in 65 games played.

At 23 years and 214 days old, Capela is the youngest Rocket to have a 20/20 game since Yao Ming versus the Detroit Pistons on December 6, 2003.

The Rockets improve to 25-4 this season which is tied for the best start in franchise history with 1993-'94 squad. The 25 wins are tied for the 11th most through the first 29 games in NBA history.

The Rockets continue their seven-game homestand this Wednesday, December 20, versus the Los Angeles Lakers. Tip time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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