The Jazz took their show on the road—and kept on winning.
Utah grabbed control early on and then cruised to a dominant 104-84 victory over the Indiana Pacers, the No. 4 team in the Eastern Conference.
Rudy Gobert logged his 21st double-double of the season, finishing with 23 points, 14 rebounds, one steal and one block in 39 minutes. Donovan Mitchell scored 20 points, while Ricky Rubio stuffed the stat sheet with 18 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals in the win.
Joe Ingles recorded a double-double with 11 points and a season-high 10 assists, and Jae Crowder chipped in 16 points off the bench.
The Jazz (35-30) have now won 16 of their past 18 games.
Big man Myles Turner led the Pacers (37-28) with 24 points and three blocks, while All-Star Victor Oladipo finished with 13 points, seven assists and five steals in the loss.
Wednesday's Best
Mitchell scored at least 20 points for the 33rd time this season. He hit two straight threes and dished a no-look assist to Crowder to help the Jazz take a 12-point lead at the end of the first quarter, and they didn't look back. In all, Mitchell had 20 points on 6-for-15 shooting (including 4-for-10 from 3-point range), three rebounds, six assists and a steal in the win.
Key Stretches
The Jazz fell behind 8-2 early, but a 19-6 run gave them a seven-point lead. Mitchell hit two straight jump shots, while Gobert got to the rim for a layup and two dunks. Rubio hit an off-balance runner and Ingles drilled two 3-pointers to cap the run. The Jazz pushed their lead to 12 by the end of the first quarter.
The Jazz maintained a healthy buffer for much of the night, but—after Indiana cut their lead to seven late in the third quarter—they caught fire again. Mitchell made two free throws and then sank a 3-pointer, and then Crowder put in a breakaway layup to close the period. Utah then opened the fourth quarter on a 15-2 run. Gobert threw down an alley-oop dunk (off a pass from Ingles), Ingles worked his way into the lane for a layup, and Jonas Jerebko banked in a runner. Gobert made a step-back shot and then converted a three-point play in the lane to give Utah a 20-point lead.
Significant Stats
9
After starting out the season 3-17 on the road, the Jazz have won nine straight games away from Salt Lake City. They're now 14-19 on the road.
30
Utah dished out a whopping 30 assists, with Ingles (10), Rubio (seven) and Mitchell (six) leading the way. The Jazz entered the night averaging 21.4 assists per game.
13.0
The Jazz shot a respectable 11-for-31 (35.5 percent) from long range, but—more importantly—they held the Pacers to an ice-cold 3-for-23 (13.0 percent) from 3-point range.
Coach's Quote of the Night
Jazz head coach Quin Snyder
Notable
The Jazz are now 17-2 when Rubio scores at least 16 points. ... Utah has 21 wins this season against teams with a record of .500 or better. ... Derrick Favors returned the lineup after missing Monday's game with neck spasms. He finished with seven points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 26 minutes. ... The Jazz shot 51.2 percent from the field. Indiana shot 38.6 percent. ... The Pacers outscored the Jazz 24-4 on second-chance points.
Up Next
The Jazz will travel to Memphis to face the Grizzlies on Friday. Tipoff is set for 6:00pm MT.
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