After suffering a down-to-the-wire defeat on Friday night, the Jazz were back at it again on Saturday—and this time, they came away with a wire-to-wire victory.
Final score: Jazz 125, Clippers 113.
The Jazz (19-27) started strong and kept the pedal down, leading throughout as they snapped LA's six-game winning streak (which included victories over the Warriors and Rockets).
Donovan Mitchell stuffed the stat sheet with 23 points, five rebounds, seven assists and two steals in the win, and Joe Ingles tied his career high with 21 points. Ricky Rubio added 12 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Jazz.
Derrick Favors double-doubled with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Rudy Gobert finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in 28 minutes.
Lou Williams lit it up for the Clippers (23-22) with 31 points and seven assists. He also had more steals (10) than the entire Jazz team (nine). Blake Griffin added 25 points and eight rebounds in the loss.
Saturday's Best
The win was the result of a truly balanced effort as nine Utah players scored at least six points. Rubio consistently pushed the pace. Gobert and Favors owned the block. Mitchell found his shot and also thrived as a distributor. Joe Johnson hit nothing but net on several step-back jumpers. Jonas Jerebko drilled a huge three late in the fourth quarter. Alec Burks got to the rim for a handful of layups. Raul Neto used his stop-and-go dribble to open up space. Ingles shot 5-for-10 from 3-point range. Royce O'Neale threw down a dunk after a key steal. Each Jazz player who took the court contributed in a positive way.
Key Stretches
Utah set the tone early, going on a 9-3 run to take an eight-point lead midway through the first quarter. The Jazz got out in transition, with Rubio finding Gobert for a dunk and then Jerebko for a layup. Rubio then canned an open three to cap the run and force a Clippers timeout.
The Jazz extended their lead from 11 to 20 in the final three minutes of the second quarter. Ingles made a bucket and Favors threw down a dunk. Mitchell spun, stepped back and drilled a jumper, and then Gobert converted a three-point play. Ingles closed Utah's first-half scoring with two straight 3-pointers.
The Jazz kept things going in the third quarter, extending their lead to 25 with an 11-2 run. Ingles made two more threes and a layup, and Mitchell knifed into the lane for a three-point play. The Clippers chipped away at that lead the rest of the way, but Utah's cushion was too big for LA to overcome.
Significant Stats
76
The Jazz set a new season high with 76 first-half points. Favors scored all 14 of his points in the first half, while Burks came off the bench to score 13 of his 15 points before halftime. As a team, Utah shot 62.5 percent from the field in the first two quarters.
+22
The Clippers went small to combat Utah's big lineup—and the Jazz absolutely punished them on the boards. Utah outrebounded LA 56-34, with 11 of those rebounds coming on the offensive glass. Utah scored 15 second-chance points.
Coach's Quote of the Night
Jazz head coach Quin Snyder
Notable
Rodney Hood, who scored 18 points on Friday against the Knicks, missed Saturday's game with a leg contusion. Danté Exum (shoulder) and Thabo Sefolosha (knee) were also out for the Jazz. ... DeAndre Jordan (ankle), Austin Rivers (knee), Danilo Gallinari (glute) and Patrick Beverley (knee) did not play for the Clippers. ... Mitchell scored at least 20 points for the 21st time this season. ... Williams' 10 steals were the most by any NBA player in a game this season. ... The Jazz shot 54.9 percent from the field and made 11 3-pointers.
Up Next
The Jazz will travel to Atlanta to face the Hawks on Monday night. Tipoff is set for 5:30pm MT.
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