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A three-day holiday break comes at a perfect time for the Jazz.

It gives coach Tyrone Corbin a chance to rethink his super-sized starting lineup.

Utah got off to another horrendous start Monday night against Houston but, in the end, it didn't matter.

Gordon Hayward scored 15 points and the Jazz squared their early-season record at 6-6 with a cruise-control 102-91 victory over the weary Rockets at EnergySolutions Arena.

Utah coach Tyrone Corbin's second try at starting Al Jefferson, Derrick Favors and Paul Millsap along his frontline was only slight more successful than the first.

At Washington on Saturday night, Utah fell behind 9-0.

Against the Rockets, the Jazz trailed 7-0 after they failed to convert seven straight possessions and fouled Houston on its first three trips down the floor.

Favors committed two fouls in the opening 60 seconds, ending another big starting lineup experiment by Corbin almost before it began.

"That's one of the concerns when you go big — that you get in early foul trouble," Corbin said.

Against Houston, the slow start simply delayed the inevitable.

The Rockets were playing back-to-back, and this was their third game in four nights.

On top of the taxing schedule, Houston played with a subpar James Harden.

The Rockets' leading scorer was bothered by an upper respiratory illness and played only 17 minutes — all the first half. He finished with six points on 1-for-6 shooting

"I really liked the fight in our team," said Kelvin Sampson, Houston's acting head coach.

Once the Jazz recovered from their slow start, the key stretch of the game came at the start of the second quarter.

Utah owned a 29-26 lead before DeMarre Carroll and Enes Kanter led a 13-0 run.

Kanter blocked two shots and Hayward blocked another as the Jazz stopped the Rockets' first 11 possessions.

It took Houston almost five minutes to score a point and nearly six minutes to make a shot.

On the other end, Marvin Williams hit a 3-pointer, Carroll outran the defense for a pair of baskets and Kanter converted Hayward's rejection into a transition dunk.

"We did a good job of sharing the ball," Corbin said. "... I thought that second group came in and gave us a huge boost."

"You can't allow the offensive wings to run right by you," Sampson said. "And Utah has one of the best energy guys off the bench in DeMarre Carroll. He's a tough kid who runs the floor."

Carroll scored six points in the second quarter, when the Jazz broke away and took a 23-point lead.

It ended up being 61-44 at halftime.

"I did what I always try to do," Carroll said. "Just get out there and give us some energy."

The Rockets got as close as 75-66 in the third quarter, but Jefferson hit a free throw and Paul Millsap blocked a shot. He followed with a tough jumper and Utah pulled away again.

After playing 12 games in the first 20 days of the season, including eight on the road, the Jazz can enjoy their Thanksgiving break.

"Fortunately for us," Corbin said, "we have a couple of days to rest a little. ... As a staff, we've got a lot of work to do to figure out what's going to give us the best chance, going forward."

Jazz 102, Rockets 91

R Gordon Hayward scores 15 points and the Jazz improve to 4-0 at home with a 102-91 win over Houston.

• Al Jefferson contributes 14 points and 16 rebounds for Utah, which trailed in the opening minutes, 7-0.

• Houston's James Harden was ill. He scored only six points on 1-for-6 shooting in 17 minutes, all in the first half. Jazz 102,Rockets 91

FG FT Reb

Houston Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Parsons 34:17 3-11 3-4 1-10 5 0 11

Ptterson 20:53 8-14 2-2 1-1 0 3 19

Asik 28:34 0-5 2-6 3-7 0 3 2

Lin 32:32 5-15 3-3 3-6 3 2 13

Harden 17:29 1-6 3-3 0-2 3 2 6

Jones 29:47 4-12 4-4 4-8 0 0 12

Morris 30:10 3-8 5-5 0-4 2 5 12

Douglas 15:28 2-7 0-0 0-2 4 1 5

Aldrich 1:31 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Smith 15:15 2-3 2-4 3-8 0 3 6

Cook 14:04 2-5 0-0 0-0 1 3 5

Totals 240:00 30-86 24-31 15-49 18 22 91

Percentages: FG .349, FT .774. 3-Point Goals: 7-21, .333 (Parsons 2-6, Patterson 1-1, Harden 1-2, Cook 1-3, Douglas 1-3, Morris 1-3, Jones 0-1, Lin 0-2). Team Rebounds: 11. Team Turnovers: 14 (16 PTS). Blocked Shots: 9 (Smith 3, Asik 2, Patterson 2, Harden, Morris). Turnovers: 14 (Asik 3, Lin 3, Douglas 2, Harden 2, Parsons 2, Patterson 2). Steals: 4 (Morris 2, Cook, Douglas). Technical Fouls: None.

FG FT Reb

Utah Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Millsap 26:00 4-9 2-2 3-8 1 3 10

Favors 23:12 2-7 4-4 3-8 0 5 8

Jeffersn 26:39 4-12 6-7 4-16 2 1 14

MoWlms 26:56 4-11 0-0 0-1 7 3 8

Foye 24:15 4-11 2-2 0-1 1 0 14

MaWlms 24:39 4-9 1-2 0-4 1 0 12

Hayward 18:38 5-12 4-5 0-2 1 3 15

Kanter 21:21 3-5 0-0 2-8 3 2 6

Tinsley 21:04 1-4 0-0 1-5 11 2 3

Carroll 13:01 4-6 0-0 1-2 3 1 8

Burks 5:07 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Evans 5:07 1-1 0-1 0-0 0 2 2

Murphy 4:01 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 2

Totals 240:00 37-92 19-23 14-55 30 23 102

Percentages: FG .402, FT .826. 3-Point Goals: 9-21, .429 (Foye 4-7, Ma.Williams 3-3, Tinsley 1-3, Hayward 1-5, Carroll 0-1, Murphy 0-1, M. Williams 0-1). Team Rebounds: 7. Team Turnovers: 14 (18 PTS). Blocked Shots: 11 (Kanter 3, Favors 2, Millsap 2, Evans, Foye, Hayward, Jefferson). Turnovers: 14 (Kanter 4, Tinsley 3, Hayward 2, Carroll, Favors, Foye, Jefferson, M. Williams). Steals: 4 (Carroll, Favors, Jefferson, Tinsley). Technical Fouls: Defensive three second, 8:36 first Defensive three second, 6:57 fourth.

Houston 26 18 26 21 — 91

Utah 29 32 24 17 — 102

Attendance • 19,197

Time • 2:12.

Officials • Monty McCutchen, Eli Roe, Sean Wright.