The Roundup—Jazz 82, Bucks 75

It was sloppy and low-scoring, but the Jazz found a way to pull out an 82-75 win over the Milwaukee Bucks Saturday night at EnergySolutions Arena.

Derrick Favors grabbed an offensive rebound and put in a layup to give Utah an 80-75 lead with just under a minute left, while Gordon Hayward—despite struggling from the field—stepped up to the line and drilled four straight free throws down the stretch to help seal the victory.

Trey Burke led the Jazz with a game-high 23 points and six assists. Favors (16 points, 12 rebounds, three steals, three blocks) and Rudy Gobert (12 points, 10 rebounds, two steals, three blocks) each registered double-doubles.

Hayward finished with 14 points on 4-for-18 shooting.

Khris Middleton scored a team-high 18 points for Milwaukee, while Michael Carter-Williams scored 16 points and grabbed four steals in the loss.

When the Jazz were struggling, Burke put them on his back. With his team mired in a nearly eight-minute scoreless drought, Trey put in two big buckets late in the third quarter—a 3-pointer and then a contested layup on Utah’s next possession. And then, early in the fourth quarter, he dished two assists and then drilled another three to give the Jazz an eight-point lead just minutes after they had trailed by three. 

The Bucks entered the game third in the NBA in team defense, and it showed—especially in the third quarter. The Jazz managed only four points in the first 8+ minutes as Milwaukee turned a seven-point deficit into a three-point lead. The Jazz, though, ended the quarter on a 7-1 run and then began the fourth quarter on a 7-2 run to build a 65-57 lead, which turned out to be just enough cushion to hold on in the end.

Turnovers continued to be a thorn in Utah’s side—the Jazz turned the ball over 23 times, marking their third straight game with 20+ turnovers. But they also forced 23 Milwaukee turnovers, which led to 24 Utah points.

A night after the Jazz recorded a season-high 15 blocks, they etched another season high into the books—16 steals. Elijah Millsap snatched five steals, while Favors (three), Gobert (two) and Trevor Booker (two) also came up big on defense.

Burke was hot from deep—the rest of the team was not. Trey went 5-for-10, including two threes in the first quarter and three clutch triples late in the game. His final one—which came from five feet behind the arc—gave the Jazz a 74-65 lead with just under five minutes left. Hayward was the only other Jazz player to hit a 3-pointer. As a team, the Jazz went 6-for-22 from beyond the arc.

Less than two minutes into the game, Carter-Williams drove past Danté Exum on the baseline and went up for a two-handed slam. Gobert, though, rotated over and put Carter-Williams on his backside with a powerful one-handed block. Favors then capped the game when he stuffed a Carter-Williams fadeaway attempt to preserve Utah’s five-point lead in the final minute. The Jazz blocked seven shots.

The Jazz will hit the road for a game Tuesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. MT and the game will be televised on ROOT SPORTS.