The Houston Rockets travel to Salet Lake City to face the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Monday.

The Rockets (28-17) are having their first big slump of the season, entering this matchup losing six of their last nine games. That's a shocking number to see from a club like this and the hits just keep coming. James Harden suffered a thigh contusion over the weekend and that forced him to miss Sunday's defeat against the Denver Nuggets. What's even more annoying is the fact that Russell Westbrook played in that game, forcing him to sit here in the second half of a back-to-back set. It's been hard for this team to compete with Harden and Westbrook recently and it's hard to imagine what they'll do here with both of them potentially missing this game.

The Jazz (32-13) have catapulted themselves up to the two-seed in the Western Conference, winning 19 of their last 21 games. What's really frightening about this club is the fact that they're blowing teams out on a nightly basis, winning about half of those by double-digit margins. It's no surprise when you look at the statistics, with this club ranked Top-10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency in that stretch. They've actually moved from 28th in scoring all the way up to 16th in that stretch which is scary with how good their defense can be at times. The next step is to get Mike Conley to return to his Memphis form. The stud point guard has been slow to adjust to his new role off the bench and if they can get him to play at the level we've seen in past years, this may be the favorite in the Western Conference.

While these teams split their four-game season series last year, Houston has won six of their last eight games over Utah in total.