Jazz Win Rematch With Timberwolves 125-111

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Just two days after the narrow win in Salt Lake City, the Utah Jazz beat the Minnesota Timberwolves on their home floor 125-111.

Donovan Mitchell caught fire in the second half with 22 points, he finished with 29 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists on 10-of-22 shooting from the field and 2-for-6 from downtown. Ricky Rubio had 18 points and 8 assists in his return to Minnesota to face his former team.

Jazz center Rudy Gobert poured in 17 points, 4 rebounds and 3 blocks. Jae Crowder and Kyle Korver combined for 28 points and 8 three-pointers off the bench.

Andrew Wiggins racked up 35 points, Karl Anthony-Towns chipped in 22 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists.

Favors, Defense Carry Jazz Through First Half

The Jazz started strong in the first four minutes of the first quarter with a 16-7 lead. Joe Ingles had 6 points and Derrick Favors added 5 points with both players hitting a three-pointer.

Minnesota started to find their rhythm at the end of the period, outscoring Utah 15-9. The Jazz still had the lead of 25-22 after the first quarter.

Towns already had 11 points after the first 12 minutes to lead the Timberwolves. Favors finished with 7 points in the quarter.

Utah countered with 16 points in the first 6 minutes of the second quarter and held a 41-34 advantage.

The Jazz’s offense would sputter at the end of the first half but their defense held serve, taking a 53-50 lead into the locker room.

Favors led the Jazz with 11 first half points, Ricky Rubio had 9 points.

The Timberwolves already had three players in double figures in scoring after the first 24 minutes. Towns and Andrew Wiggins both had 12 points and Jerryd Bayless chipped in 11.

Mitchell Puts On Second Half Show

After trailing most of the game, the Timberwolves took the lead back with 3 minutes left in the third quarter with a 79-78 advantage.

By the end of the third period, the game was fairly even with Utah outscoring Minnesota 37-35 and had a 90-85 lead. Donovan Mitchell had a big third quarter with 13 points to put his total to 20. All five starters for the Jazz scored in double figures by the end of the period.

Wiggins added 9 points in the third to put his grand total to 21 points heading into the fourth quarter.

Towns chipped in 7 points for 19 total points.

The Jazz had their sights on putting the game away at the beginning of the fourth quarter, putting up 13 points in the first four minutes, holding Minnesota to just 7 points. Kyle Korver hit two threes during that stretch.

Mitchell and Georges Niang hit back-to-back triples to give the Jazz a double digit lead with 6 minutes left in the game.

Don 3️⃣
Georges 3️⃣ pic.twitter.com/f8Ar5nauV1

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 28, 2019

The second year star for the Jazz led the way down the stretch with his ball distribution and his scoring ability, helping Utah pick up the road win.

7 guys in double-digits in the win! Off to Portland ✈️#UTAatMIN | #TeamIsEverything pic.twitter.com/JZ8uu47gg4

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 28, 2019

Dunk Tracker

Rudy Gobert is on track to beat Dwight Howard’s record for the most dunks in a single season with 269 in the 2007-08 season.

Gobert entered the night with a league-best 180 dunks and added 5 more slams to put his total at 185.

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo entered Sunday night in second-place with 169 dunks this season. In the Bucks’ 118-112 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Antetokounmpo added just three dunks to bring his total to 172. He scored 27 points in the loss.

Up Next

Utah improved to 29-22 on the season and have won three in a row and 11 of their last 13. They are sitting in 7th place in the Western Conference standings but have the same record as the San Antonio Spurs who are in 6th place.

The Jazz will finish their two game road trip on Wednesday against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Portland has a 31-20 record and have won 2 straight and 5 of their last 6. This will be the fourth and final meeting of the regular season between the Jazz and Blazers with Utah leading the season series 2-1.

They won the first meeting in Portland on December 21, 120-90, and also won the matchup at home on Christmas Day 117-96.

The Trail Blazers won the last game on January 21 with a 109-104 victory in Salt Lake City.

Tip-off on Wednesday will be at 8:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN.