<p>SALT LAKE CITY — Georges Niang tied a career high with 24 points and the NBA-leading Utah Jazz beat the short-handed Houston Rockets 124-116 on Saturday night to reach 50 victories.</p>
<p> Jordan Clarkson scored 21 points, and Bojan Bogdanovic added 20 — his seventh straight 20-point performance — for the Jazz.</p>
<p>The Jazz finished 5-0 on their homestand despite missing All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley again.</p>
<p> Niang took advantage of some post-ups in the paint and was a sharpshooter from beyond the arc. Starting just his eighth game, Niang scored 10 points in the third quarter and his 3-pointer with 2:50 left in the period gave Utah its largest lead, 96-75.</p>
<p> The usually mild-mannered Niang was so fired up, he drew a technical for taunting after draining a 3 that tied his career high of 24 early in the final period. He was 6 of 8 on 3-pointers.</p>
<p>Rudy Gobert had 13 points and 14 rebounds for the Jazz.</p>
<p>The Rockets have lost five straight and 20 of their past 23 games.</p>
<p>Khyri Thomas and KJ Martin each had career highs of 27 for Houston. Thomas has scored 47 in two games with the Rockets, and Martin marked his third straight 20-point game and fourth of his career.</p>
<p>Both teams were playing the second part of back-to-back, which led to some sloppy play. The Jazz improved to 12-2 on zero days rest.</p>
<p>The undermanned Rockets were forced to roll out a starting lineup with Martin at 6-foot-7 as the tallest player to face the 7-foot-1 Gobert. Danuel House Jr. and D.J. Augustin moved off the injury report and onto the court for first time in weeks to give Houston eight available players.</p>
<p>TIP-INS</p>
<p>Rockets: Injury list was voluminous: Avery Bradley (personal), Sterling Brown (knee), Danté Exum (calf), Eric Gordon (groin); David Nwaba (wrist), Kelly Olynyk (ankle), Kevin Porter Jr (ankle), John Wall (hamstring); D.J. Wilson (health protocols), and Christian Wood (ankle). … Houston used its 40th different starting lineup in 68 games. … Jae’Sean Tate was assessed a Flagrant Penalty 1 for hitting Gobert in the face in the third quarter.</p>
<p>Jazz: Clarkson has made a 3 in 90 straight games. … Utah outscored Houston in the paint, 56-46. … The Jazz swept the season series with the Rockets, 3-0. … Ingles got a technical foul with 2:10 remaining and then left the game.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Rockets: At Portland on Monday night.</p>
<p>Jazz: At Golden State on Monday night.</p>
