James Harden Says Jazz Are 'Unbelievable' After Rockets' Game 5 Win

While the Houston Rockets needed only five games to defeat the Utah Jazz in the second round of the playoffs, James Harden had great things to say about their opponent after the Rockets' 112-102 Game 5 win at Toyota Center, per Eric Woodyard of the Deseret News:

"Unbelievable," the Rockets guard said about the Jazz, via Andy Larsen of KSL.com. "Especially when no one expected them to be in the situation they're in right now. The sky is the limit for them."

Harden had an especially positive outlook about Utah's future.

"They have a great rookie this year in Donovan [Mitchell], some great pieces to go around him," he continued, via Larsen. "Obviously Quin Snyder is a really good coach. So they'll keep building, and we'll see what happens."

The Jazz reached the Western Conference Semifinals last season, but many expected them to take a significant step back after All-Star Gordon Hayward left in free agency and they lacked a high draft pick. Mitchell shocked everyone, however, becoming a Rookie of the Year candidate and the team's best offensive option.

That helped Utah get back to the second round of the playoffs before No. 1-seeded Houston proved to be too much to handle.

With players like Rudy Gobert, Ricky Rubio and Joe Ingles returning at least next year, though, the Jazz have plenty of reason for optimism, as Harden pointed out.

In the meantime, the Rockets moved on to the Western Conference Finals for the second time in the last four years.