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Rockets rally to down Jazz

Nov 3, 2013 - 6:34 AM Salt Lake City, UT (SportsNetwork.com) - Chandler Parsons, James Harden and Jeremy Lin all scored at least 20 points and the Houston Rockets rallied from an early deficit to down the winless Utah Jazz, 104-93, at EnergySolutions Arena.

The Rockets trailed by as many as 19 late in the second quarter, but shot 58 percent (21-of-36) from the field in the second half to stay unbeaten through the first three games.

Parsons led all scorers with 24 points, Harden checked in with 23 and Lin had 20. Dwight Howard finished with 15 points and eight rebounds and shot a respectable 7-of-10 from the foul line in the victory.

"This is a big win for us and it wasn't pretty," said Parsons. "It shows a lot about our team that when we got down so big we didn't give up."

The Jazz fell to 0-3 for the first time since the 1979-80 campaign -- their first in Utah -- despite six players scoring in double figures. Richard Jefferson had a team-high 18 points, Enes Kanter netted 16 and Alec Burks and Gordon Hayward had 15 apiece in the setback.

"There's nothing you can say, there's no play you can draw up," Jefferson said about Utah's early struggles. "You just needs guys to go do it. That's the growing pains of a young team."

After erasing their early hole, the Rockets found themselves trailing by an 85-83 margin with 7:12 remaining, then ended the game on a 21-8 flurry.

Lin broke an 85-85 tie with a 3-pointer and Parsons tipped in a miss on the next possession.

Howard made it an 11-point affair, 101-90, by making two free throws with under two minutes to play, and the Rockets held on from there.

Houston made just five field goals in the first quarter, which ended with Utah holding a 24-16 lead.

Parsons caught fire with 16 second-quarter points, but the Jazz stayed in front and used a late 9-0 run to go up by as many as 19, though Lin's three- point play cut Houston's deficit to 56-40 at the break.

Harden drained a 3 and put in a layup off a turnover to cap a 13-0 run that pulled the Rockets within 58-55 less than five minutes into the third quarter.

Francisco Garcia's 3-pointer in the final minute gave the visitors their first lead since it was 3-2, and Burks' bucket in the closing seconds evened things at 73-73 heading to the fourth.

Game Notes

The Rockets are 3-0 for the first time since the 2008-09 season ... In the second half, the Jazz shot 32 percent from the field and recorded just one assist.