This was the most important game left on their schedule—on the road, battling for playoff position against a division rival—and the Jazz came through with one of their best performances of the season, a 121-97 blowout of the Timberwolves Sunday evening.
The Jazz (44-33) now sit in sixth place in the Western Conference standings with only five games left in the regular season.
"It's always special—I played here for six years and I have good memories," Ricky Rubio said about playing in Minnesota. "But tonight was about winning the game, and we did a good job."
Utah's starting backcourt of Rubio (23 points) and Donovan Mitchell (21 points) controlled the game, while Derrick Favors added 16 points and two blocks in 32 minutes.
Rudy Gobert finished with six points, 13 rebounds, four blocks and a game-high net rating of +22 in the win.
Andrew Wiggins led the Timberwolves (44-34) with 23 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns added 20 points in the loss.
Sunday's Best
Playing against his former team once again—this time after a cheap shot from Jeff Teague sent him flying into the front row a month ago in Salt Lake City—Rubio set the tone early with 16 of his 23 points in the first half. He shot 9-for-14 from the field (including 5-for-6 from 3-point range) and added seven rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block in 27 minutes.
Key Stretches
After a listless start, the Jazz fought back to grab their first lead of the game (22-20) late in the first quarter—and they took off from there, using a 13-2 run to take a 43-30 lead early in the second period. Jerebko scored six points (on two layups and a jumper), while Favors, Exum and Ingles added buckets during that stretch.
The Jazz kept things rolling after halftime, opening the second half on a 15-7 run to take a 19-point lead by the midway point of the third quarter. Mitchell scored eight of those points, while Rubio added five, including a tough corner three (his fifth of the game) that capped the run and forced a Minnesota timeout.
Utah cruised from there, building a 29-point lead and throwing in some highlight-reel plays en route to the huge victory.
Significant Stats
+24
The Jazz got a huge lift from their reserves as they outscored Minnesota 50-26 in bench points. Exum (14 points, five assists), Jerebko (13 points) and Jae Crowder (10 points) stepped up in a big way.
60.5
Utah shot a scorching 60.5 percent from the field (a new season high) as a team, with Rubio (9-for-14) Mitchell (10-for-15) and Favors (6-for-9) leading the way.
43
Mitchell has now scored 20+ points 43 times this season, including each of the last nine games.
Coach's Quote of the Night
Jazz head coach Quin Snyder
Notable
The Jazz have won 14 of their past 15 road games. ... Utah is 31-7 this season when holding its opponent to fewer than 100 points. ... Raul Neto (wrist) missed his 10th straight game for the Jazz. ... Jimmy Butler (knee) and Teague (knee) did not play for the Wolves. ... Utah shot 11-for-29 (39.3 percent) from 3-point range. ... The Jazz outrebounded the Wolves 45-32.
Up Next
The Jazz will return home to face the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. Tipoff is set for 7:00pm MT.
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