SALT LAKE CITY — Lauri Markkanen scored 29 points and Keyonte George added 28 as the Utah Jazz outlasted the Houston Rockets 133-125 on Monday night.Kevin Durant, off target much of the game, scored 16 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter for Houston. Alperin Sengun had 31 points and tied a career high with 14 assists. Amen Thompson added 23 points for the Rockets (13-5), who had won five straight on the road.Sengun’s contested layup pulled the Rockets to 126-123 with 52.7 seconds remaining, but George hit 5 of 6 free throws and added a steal down the stretch to seal the win.The teams played Sunday night in Utah and the Rockets rolled to a 129-101 victory. This one was quite the contrast as the Jazz led almost all game.George, who went scoreless with eight turnovers Sunday, shot 8 for 14 from the field and handed out eight assists. Jusuf Nurkic had a season-high 18 points and nine rebounds before fouling out, and Ace Bailey added 13 points as Utah (6-13) improved to 6-6 at home.The Jazz built a 98-77 lead after Nurkic’s hook shot with 1:37 left in the third quarter. In the last 97 seconds of the period, that advantage dwindled to 98-89 due to a lightning 12-0 run that included three steals.The Rockets have been one of the best defensive teams in the NBA — holding opponents to 97.7 points per game during their three-game win streak — but were a step slow in their rotations against the Jazz, who often made the extra pass to a wide-open shooter.Popular ReadsSteven …
