Jazz Defense Smothers Trae-less Hawks For Road Win

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz played suffocating defense against a Trae Young-less Atlanta Hawks team and left State Farm Arena with a road victory.

The Hawks hosted the Jazz at State Farm Arena on Thursday, February 4.

Utah beat Atlanta, 112-91.

JAZZ WIN!!! pic.twitter.com/kcQbZ9DZvX

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) February 5, 2021

Trae-less Hawks

Shortly before the two teams tipped off, Atlanta announced that young of its starters, Trae Young and De’Andre Hunter, would miss the game due to injury.

Without two of their top three scorers, the Hawks’ offense struggled against a locked-in Jazz defense.

Utah limited Atlanta to 33.0 percent shooting from the field, including 29.0 percent on three-pointers.

ColdLanta

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) February 5, 2021

John Collins led the Hawks with 17 points.

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Jazzed Up

The Jazz ended the night with five players scoring in double figures.

However, Utah’s offense wasn’t “on fire” early in the contest.

The Jazz managed to take an eight-point lead into the locker room at halftime despite only putting up 45 points during the opening 24 minutes of game time.

In the second half, things picked up on the offensive end with impressive performances by Jordan Clarkson and Bojan Bogdanovic.

Clarkson finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-13 shooting.

pull-up, knock it down 🔁 pic.twitter.com/gU6sv7ReuF

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) February 5, 2021

The sixth man connected on 5-8 shots from downtown. Clarkson also pulled down eight rebounds and posted a bench-high plus-11 rating during his 25 minutes of action.

bucket getting is art #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/7PY0aLvmFP

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) February 5, 2021

Bogdanovic led Utah’s starters with 21 points on 9-14 field goals.

Donovan Mitchell capped off Utah’s offensive performance with 18 points and a team-high five assists.

too tough#NBAAllStar | @spidadmitchell pic.twitter.com/eYXHKvfFg5

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) February 5, 2021

Mike Conley spent the majority of the first half on the bench in foul trouble but had Utah in sync during the final two quarters. He ended with 11 points and assists.

Jazz center Rudy Gobert locked in the team’s defensive outing while he posted a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds. Gobert added a pair of blocks during his 27 minutes on the court.

Rocking the rim 💥#NBAAllStar | @rudygobert27 pic.twitter.com/vAosxVb0RM

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) February 5, 2021

Utah’s streak of making 15 or more triples in a game came to a half as the Jazz ended with 13 threes. Overall, the Jazz shot 48.4 percent and 48.1 from beyond the arc.

Up Next

With the win, the Jazz improved their NBA-best record to 17-5 on the season.

road trippin' right ✅#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/Tt33jUHgTu

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) February 5, 2021

Utah’s next game is against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday, February 5 at 6 p.m. (MDT). The game will broadcast on AT&T SportsNet and 97.5 FM.