Jalen Green scores 34, leads Rockets to 11th straight win with 101-100 victory over Jazz

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Jalen Green scored 30 of his 34 points in the second half and had nine rebounds as the Houston Rockets beat the Utah Jazz 101-100 on Friday night for their 11th straight win.

Fred VanVleet had 22 points, Amen Thompson added 18 points and 14 rebounds, and Jabari Smith Jr. finished with 14 points for the Rockets. Houston scored 27 points off 21 Utah turnovers and outscored the Jazz 25-12 in second-chance points.

Dominating the offensive glass and winning the turnover battle helped the Rockets offset a sluggish start and 38.5% shooting from the field.

“You don’t hang your head when it’s not going easy early,” Houston coach Ime Udoka said. “We were guarding well enough, and we knew the worm would turn as far as the shooting.”

John Collins led Utah with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Collin Sexton added 29 points for the Jazz, who lost their eighth straight game. Kris Dunn finished with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Utah had chances to snap its skid, but ultimately couldn’t overcome multiple careless possessions at critical junctures.

“They got 11 more shots than we did, plus shooting nine more free throws than we did, so we lost the possession battle by a pretty big number tonight,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "We’ve got to continue to take care of the ball.”

The Rockets trailed the entire first half but swung momentum their way during a third-quarter scoring outburst from Green.

Green had five of Houston’s first six baskets of the second half to power a 20-7 run that put the Rockets up 61-54 midway through the third quarter. He scored 20 of his team’s 28 points in the quarter.

“We came out running plays for me at the beginning of the third,” Green said. “I was just taking what the defense gives me and shots were falling.”

Utah surged back in front behind a 16-2 run. Sexton fueled the run with a 360-degree dunk and punctuated it with a finger-roll layup that put the Jazz up 74-69.

Houston pulled ahead for good when Green tipped in a layup and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers as part of a 14-3 run. Green’s second 3 gave the Rockets a 92-85 lead with 3:45 left.

Utah cut the deficit to one with 1:21 remaining on a turnaround jumper from Johnny Juzang. VanVleet banked in a pullup jumper and Green hit two free throws in the final 15 seconds to seal the victory.

Green has finished with 30 or more points five times in his last eight games.

“He’s been carrying us pretty much since the All-Star break,” VanVleet said. “We trust him and want to keep giving him the ball in his spots and letting him create. He can get hot.”

Houston sputtered to a season-low 13 points in the first quarter while shooting just 21% from the field over that stretch.

Collins and Sexton combined for six baskets and 21 of Utah’s first 23 points to help the Jazz overcome an 0-of-10 start from 3-point range and take advantage of the Rockets’ early struggles. Their production helped Utah carry a 23-13 lead into the second quarter.

Utah led by 13 points in the first half, going up 39-26 on a pair of 3-pointers from Collins. The Rockets closed the gap before halftime when Smith capped a string of three consecutive Houston baskets with a dunk to make it 43-39.

“It was a little rough around the edges with some attention to detail, but I thought we competed for 48 minutes,” Collins said.

UP NEXT

Rockets: hosts Dallas on Sunday.

Jazz: At Sacramento on Sunday.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

Utah Jazz guard Kris Dunn (11) shoots as Houston Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. (10) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 29, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Houston Rockets forward Jeff Green (32) pulls down a rebound as Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 29, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka reacts to a call during the first half of the team's NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz on Friday, March 29, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton, right, defends against Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 29, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy speaks with John Collins (20) during the first half of the team's NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets on Friday, March 29, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton (2) goes to the basket as Houston Rockets guard Aaron Holiday (0) defends during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 29, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Utah Jazz forward Brice Sensabaugh (8) guards Houston Rockets forward Amen Thompson (1) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 29, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (4) goes to the basket as Utah Jazz's Taylor Hendricks (0) and John Collins (20) defend during the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, March 29, 2024, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — Elon Musk traveled to Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on Sunday to launch Starlink satellite internet service in the world’s largest archipelago nation.

Wearing a green Batik shirt, Musk was greeted with a garland of flower petals at a community health clinic in Denpasar, the provincial capital of Bali, where he launched the Starlink service alongside Indonesian ministers.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 17,000 islands sprawled across three time zones with a population of more than 270 million, has been trying for years to secure deals with Musk's Tesla on battery investment and for Musk’s SpaceX to provide fast internet for the country’s remote regions.

During the ceremony, Musk took a speed test of the Starlink internet service with several health workers in Indonesia’s remote regions, including in Aru, one of Indonesia’s unserved and outermost islands in Maluku province.

“This can make it really a lifesaver for remote medical clinics, and I think it could be a possibility for education as well,” Musk told reporters.

“If you can access the internet and then you can learn anything and you can also sell your business services worldwide. So, I think it’s going to be incredibly beneficial," he said.

He also signed an agreement on enhancing connectivity in the country’s health and education sectors. Details about the agreement between the Indonesian government and Musk’s SpaceX, the aerospace company that operates Starlink services, were not provided.

Launching the service at a health clinic aligns with Starlink’s broader mission of providing affordable access to high-speed internet services, particularly in underserved and remote regions, said Coordinating Minister of Maritime and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.

“Our remote regions need Starlink to expand high-speed internet services, especially to help with problems in the health, education and maritime sectors,” Pandjaitan, a close ally of Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, told reporters. He held separate talks with Musk on Sunday.

Communication and Informatics Minister Budi Arie Setiadi said earlier that local internet providers, which rely on base transceiver stations to transmit signals, are unable to reach outer islands because they have limited coverage. Starlink’s satellites, which remain in low orbit, will help them deliver faster internet with nationwide coverage.

Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said of the more than 10,000 clinics across the country, there are still around 2,700 without internet access.

“The internet can open up better access to health services as communication between regions is said to be easier, so that reporting from health service facilities can be done in real time or up to date,” he said.

During his first in-person visit to Bali, Musk is also scheduled to participate in the 10th World Water Forum, which seeks to address global water and sanitation challenges.

Musk spoke in 2022 at the B-20 business forum ahead of a summit of the Group of 20 leading economies that took place in Bali. He joined the conference by video link weeks after completing his heavily scrutinized takeover of Twitter.

Musk’s visit comes just weeks after Apple CEO Tim Cook met Widodo on April 17 and said the company would “look at” manufacturing in Indonesia. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella visited on April 30 and said the company would invest $1.7 billion over the next four years in new cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure in Indonesia.

Indonesia under Widodo has promoted development of the digital technology and information sectors, aiming to achieve the government’s Golden Indonesia 2045 Vision. The country hopes to become one of the world’s top five economies with a GDP of up to $9 trillion, exactly a century after it won independence from Dutch colonizers.

Karmini reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.

FILE - Tesla and SpaceX Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition in Washington, Monday, March 9, 2020. Musk arrived in Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on Sunday, May 19, 2024, to launch Starlink satellite internet service in the world’s largest archipelago nation. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)