Rockets To Face Jazz In Las Vegas Summer League Semi-Finals

After an undefeated 4-0 start, the Houston Rockets will face-off against the Utah Jazz during the Las Vegas Summer League Semi-Finals on Sunday.

The Houston Rockets are on the verge of their first Summer League championship in franchise history. 

After defeating the Golden State Warriors Thursday night, the 4-0 Rockets will return to the Thomas & Mack Center Sunday for the Las Vegas Summer League Semi-Finals against the 4-0 Utah Jazz. The winner of the semi-finals will play in the Summer League championship game Monday night.

The Rockets have been one of the best teams in Las Vegas since the start of the summer tournament. Houston has averaged 109.0 points while scoring 100 or more in each game.

Tari Eason and Jabari Smith Jr. set an early tone in Las Vegas by leading the Rockets to a 2-0 start after wins against the Portland Trail Blazers and Detroit Pistons. Smith averaged 35.5 points, seven rebounds and four assists over the previous two games. Eason averaged 23.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

Smith scored 33 points to lead the Rockets to a 100-99 victory over the Trail Blazers on July 7, which included a game-winning basket with 0.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

"It shows that he is growing as a player," Summer League coach Ben Sullivan said of Smith’s work so far. “He has a lot of stuff he is good at. And now, he is putting it all together. He has had a couple of good games, and I could not be happier with the way he is playing."

But since the Rockets shut down Eason and Smith, Houston continued their Summer League dominance with wins against the Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder.

Trevor Hudgins has taken the reigns as the Rockets' top scorer averaging 24.5 points on 45.0 percent shooting from the field. Rookie Cam Whitmore has been the Rockets' most consistent player in Las Vegas. He has averaged 19.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in 31.5 minutes across all four games.

"With Jabari and Tari out, we had to step up," Hudgins said. "We are a good group, and we have good coaches...Just come out and be aggressive. Come out and control the game and be willing to take shots."

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