Rockets beat Jazz 104-93 to spoil Quin Snyder's NBA coaching debut

Dwight Howard had 22 points and 10 rebounds and the Houston Rockets beat the Utah Jazz 104-93 on Wednesday night to spoil Quin Snyder's NBA coaching debut.

James Harden added 18 points and 10 assists, and Trevor Ariza had 20 points for the Rockets, who opened the season Tuesday night in Los Angeles with a 108-90 victory over the Lakers.

Alec Burks led Utah with 18 points. Derrick Favors added 16, and Trey Burke had 15.

Houston made 14 of 27 3-point attempts and held Utah to 33 percent shooting in the final quarter. The Jazz missed 13 of their first 15 fourth-quarter attempts, and the Rockets broke open the tight game with 18-5 run.

The Rockets led by as many 13 in the third quarter before Burke led a furious Jazz rally that drew them to 75-72 by the end of the period. The Utah point guard had nine points during the surge that had the sellout crowd on its feet.

The Jazz have been tabbed by many experts to finish at the bottom of the Western Conference but their hustle got under the skin of the Rockets at times.

Howard committed six turnovers and fouled out late in the game. He had words for the officials as he slowly made his way to the bench.

TIP-INS

Jazz: Utah shot 60 percent in the first half and still trailed 58-50 due to the Rockets' long-range accuracy. ... The Jazz had 13 offensive rebounds, forced 18 turnovers and led 62-44 in points in the paint but was outscored by 33 points on 3-pointers. ...Recent signee Joe Ingles had only one practice with Jazz but appeared in the second quarter and missed his only field goal.

Rockets: Papanikolaou, the Greek player in his second NBA game, made his first four 3-point attempts. .. The win marks the first time since 2008-09 that the Rockets have opened with two straight double-digit wins.

UP NEXT

Utah is at Dallas on Thursday night.

The Rockets host Boston on Saturday night.