Jazz Offer Dominating Performance Against Suns
Mar 25, 2019, 10:33 PM | Updated: 11:35 pm
Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell (45) shoots in front of Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) during an NBA basketball game at the Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City on Monday, March 25, 2019.(Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
(Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz showed their dominance over the Phoenix Suns with a 125-92 victory and moved up to fifth place in the Western Conference playoff race.
Sure, Phoenix guard Devin Booker had 59 points against the Jazz defense, but it largely proved to be inconsequential in a 33-point Jazz victory.
Utah also got some help from afar as the shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies stole a game from the Oklahoma City Thunder Monday night, allowing the Jazz to move past the Thunder and up to fifth place in the Western Conference standings.
📹| Win 4️⃣4️⃣ was a team effort ⤵️
70 points in the paint ✅
38 bench points ✅
34 points off turnovers ✅
31 assists ✅#TeamIsEverything | #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/Ff7HEq7Jwc— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 26, 2019
By The Numbers
While the scoring for the Suns was pretty much all Booker, the Jazz had a complete, balanced team effort. All 12 active players entered the game and scored at least two points in the win. All five starters scored in double figures.
Perhaps most importantly, it was a pretty easy win all around. Not a single Jazzman played more than 30 minutes.
The Jazz’s team effort was led by center Rudy Gobert, who had a double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds. He also set the new NBA single season dunk record in the game with his first jam of the night, off an assist by Donovan Mitchell.
📹| @rudygobert27 ⤵️
27p | 10r | 2b | 81 fg% pic.twitter.com/cDRuY8C5GT
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 26, 2019
It wasn’t a great night by Mitchell, who had just 10 points on 4-for-14 shooting. But his performance was more than made up for by the rest of the team. Joe Ingles nearly had a double-double with 14 points and seven assists.
Derrick Favors also had a strong outing with 18 points and eight rebounds to go along with five assists.
Down low, the Jazz completely outclassed last summer’s first overall pick Deandre Ayton and the rest of the Suns frontcourt. The points in the paint differential was 70-32.
📹| "It's all my teammates. They are the ones that pass me the ball every night, all I have to do is put it in the basket. It's their record, too."#TeamIsEverything | @kristenkenney pic.twitter.com/MxDtV6H1cP
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 26, 2019
Next Up
With a record of 44-30, the Jazz will stay at home to host the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN and tip off at 8:30 p.m.
