In a battle of road-weary teams, the Utah Jazz used strong first and third quarters to take down the Indiana Pacers 109-100 Saturday night in Salt Lake City.
The Jazz (29-16) have now won six straight games and are tied with the LA Clippers for fourth place in the Western Conference standings.
Both teams were on the second leg of a back-to-back set after playing on the road Friday night—Utah won in overtime in Dallas; Indiana lost to the Lakers in Los Angeles.
George Hill led the Jazz with 30 points, and fellow Indiana native Gordon Hayward scored 11 of his 27 points in the first quarter to get the Jazz going early.
Rudy Gobert logged his 31st double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Alec Burks scored a season-high 13 points (and grabbed four rebounds) in 18 minutes off the bench.
Paul George scored 19 points before he fouled out (and then picked up a technical for good measure) with 6:41 left in the game. Jeff Teague and Thaddeus Young also scored 19 points for the Pacers (22-21) in the loss.
Saturday's Best
Hill put on a show against his former team, shooting 9-for-16 from the field for a season-high 30 points. He made three 3-pointers and added six rebounds, five assists and a steal in 35 minutes.
Key Stretch
The Jazz led by as many as 17 points in the first half, but Indiana opened the third quarter on a 10-2 run to cut Utah's lead to two. The Jazz, though, countered with a quick 12-0 run to take back control. Hill scored eight of those points (on a floater, a 3-pointer and three free throws) and also grabbed a steal that resulted in a fast-break layup by Hayward, who also made a jumper during that stretch. Gobert put an exclamation point on the run by forcing a shot-clock violation by Teague.
Significant Stat
64.1
Utah's big three of Hill, Hayward and Gobert combined for 76 points on 25-for-39 (64.1 percent) shooting. That total represented 69.7 percent of Utah's final score.
Coach's Quote of the Night
Notable
Gobert grabbed his tenth rebound of the night with 1:54 left in the game to extend his streak of games with 10+ rebounds to 30. ... Joe Ingles led the Jazz in assists (six) and steals (three). ... Rodney Hood (knee) missed hit third straight game for the Jazz. ... Indiana head coach Nate McMillan picked up his second technical foul and was ejected with 2:10 left in the fourth quarter. ... The Pacers never led tonight.
Up Next
The Jazz will remain at home to face the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. MT, and the game will be televised on ROOT SPORTS.
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