It wasn't always pretty, but the Utah Jazz took control in the second half and pulled away for a 115-100 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.
The Jazz (45-30), who led from wire to wire, have won three straight games and currently sit in fifth place in the Western Conference standings.
"I thought we started the game pretty well, but they hit a couple of tough shots and there were a few momentum plays that didn't go our way," Jazz head coach Quin Snyder said. "What we did coming out in the third quarter, that's something we've talked about—starting and finishing quarters. That shows progress as far as how focused we were as a group."
Rudy Gobert stuffed the stat sheet with 22 points (on 9-for-12 shooting), 11 rebounds, two steals and three blocks, while Derrick Favors finished with 20 points and six rebounds in the win.
Jae Crowder (16 points, 3-for-7 from three), Joe Ingles (11 points), Donovan Mitchell (11 points), Thabo Sefolosha (11 points) and Ricky Rubio (10 points) also scored in double figures for the Jazz.
Kyle Kuzma finished with a team-high 21 points for the Lakers (33-42), who played without LeBron James (rest). JaVale McGee added 16 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks in the loss.
Wednesday's Best
Joe Ingles had a busy day. Wednesday was Autism Awareness Night at the arena, with Ingles—whose 2-year-old son was diagnosed with autism earlier this year—serving as the team's spokesman. He, along with Mitchell, Rubio, Gobert and Ekpe Udoh, wore custom shoes for the occasion, and special messages were played on the big screen throughout the evening. On the court, Ingles played one of his best games of the season, nearly registering a triple-double with 11 points, nine rebounds and a career-high 14 assists. He exited the game to a standing ovation with 2:27 left in the fourth quarter.
Key Stretches
The Jazz got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 20-10 lead thanks to back-to-back threes by Ingles and Mitchell, six points by Favors, two buckets at the rim by Gobert, and a driving layup by Rubio.
The Lakers hung around for the rest of the first half, cutting Utah's lead to five late in the second quarter. A driving dunk by Mitchell put Utah up by seven at halftime, and the Jazz started the third quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 14-point lead. Favors and Mitchell scored from the line, and Gobert threw down two dunks to force a Lakers timeout. Utah pushed the lead to 15 with a Gobert block that led to an alley-oop dunk by Mitchell on the other end.
Utah cruised from there, leading by as many as 22 before securing the 15-point victory.
Significant Stats
21.8
The Jazz have now won eight of their past nine games. In those eight wins, the average margin of victory has been 21.8 points.
18-4
Utah dished out 33 assists, with Ingles (14) and Rubio (eight) leading the way. The Jazz are now 18-4 this season when they finish with at leas 30 assists.
+20
The Jazz once again owned the restricted area, outrebounding the Lakers 54-40 and outscoring them 58-38 in the paint.
Coach's Quote of the Night
Jazz head coach Quin Snyder
Notable
Utah shot 49.4 percent from the field. Los Angeles shot 38.1 percent. ... Besides James, Brandon Ingram (arm), Lonzo Ball (ankle) and Josh Hart (knee) were out for the Lakers. ... Danté Exum (knee) remains out for the Jazz. ... Ingles (second quarter) and Crowder (third quarter) picked up technical fouls. ... The Lakers have now lost 17 of their last 23 games. ... Utah outscored Los Angeles 16-2 in transition. ... The Jazz shot only 23-for-36 (63.9 percent) from the free-throw line.
Up Next
The Jazz will stay at home to face the Washington Wizards on Friday. Tipoff is set for 7:00pm MT.
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