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George, Jazz square off against the Rockets

Utah Jazz (18-39, 13th in the Western Conference) vs. Houston Rockets (34-21, fourth in the Western Conference)

The Associated Press
February 22, 2026 at 7:05AM
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Utah Jazz (18-39, 13th in the Western Conference) vs. Houston Rockets (34-21, fourth in the Western Conference)

Houston; Monday, 9:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Keyonte George and the Utah Jazz visit Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets in Western Conference action.

The Rockets are 19-16 in Western Conference games. Houston is 14-5 when it turns the ball over less than its opponents and averages 14.4 turnovers per game.

The Jazz are 10-26 against conference opponents. Utah averages 15.5 turnovers per game and is 7-7 when winning the turnover battle.

The Rockets are shooting 47.2% from the field this season, 1.6 percentage points lower than the 48.8% the Jazz allow to opponents. The Jazz score 8.8 more points per game (118.2) than the Rockets give up to opponents (109.4).

The teams square off for the third time this season. In the last matchup on Dec. 2 the Jazz won 133-125 led by 29 points from Lauri Markkanen, while Durant scored 32 points for the Rockets.

TOP PERFORMERS: Durant is averaging 26.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.4 assists for the Rockets. Jabari Smith Jr. is averaging 16.9 points over the last 10 games.

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Jusuf Nurkic is scoring 10.9 points per game and averaging 10.4 rebounds for the Jazz. Isaiah Collier is averaging 16.7 points and 3.1 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rockets: 6-4, averaging 105.2 points, 45.9 rebounds, 22.9 assists, 9.4 steals and 6.9 blocks per game while shooting 45.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 104.5 points per game.

Jazz: 3-7, averaging 115.9 points, 46.4 rebounds, 29.0 assists, 10.6 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 47.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 118.1 points.

INJURIES: Rockets: Jae'Sean Tate: day to day (knee), Fred VanVleet: out for season (acl), Steven Adams: out for season (ankle).

Jazz: Lauri Markkanen: day to day (illness), Keyonte George: day to day (ankle), Walker Kessler: out for season (shoulder), Jusuf Nurkic: day to day (nose), Jaren Jackson Jr.: out for season (knee).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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