Field Level Media
Jan 25, 2019
Donovan Mitchell scored 24 points and dished out a career-high 11 assists to lead the Utah Jazz to a 106-102 victory over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night at Salt Lake City.
Rudy Gobert tallied 18 points and 16 rebounds for his 41st double-double of the season. Kyle Korver added 16 points off the bench. Utah won for the eighth time in nine games.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 33 points and collected 10 rebounds to lead Minnesota. Andrew Wiggins added 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves. The loss to Utah snapped a three-game winning streak for Minnesota.
The two teams will play again on Sunday in Minneapolis.
Towns struggled with foul trouble in the first half. He played a total of six minutes after picking up three quick fouls. With Towns watching helplessly from the bench, Utah had no trouble generating enough offensive momentum to surge ahead.
The Timberwolves carved out a 14-8 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers from Jerryd Bayless and Wiggins. It didn't last long after the Jazz hit 12 of 17 shots over a 10-minute stretch to take a 33-24 lead.
The Jazz took their first double-digit lead at 40-29 when Mitchell, Gobert, and Georges Niang each scored on three straight possessions. They led by as many as 13 en route to a 52-45 halftime lead.
Minnesota's comeback efforts were complicated by Taj Gibson's ejection with 6:41 left in the third quarter. Gibson was whistled for two technical fouls and had to be restrained from going after an official before being led to the locker room.
It swung momentum in favor of the Jazz the rest of the third quarter. Utah ripped off a 13-0 run and took a 75-54 lead on two free throws from Mitchell with 4:46 remaining in the quarter.
Minnesota answered by opening the fourth quarter with a 15-2 run. The Timberwolves pulled within 92-84 after Towns capped the run with back-to-back baskets.
Anthony Tolliver's 3-pointer cut Utah's lead to 103-102 heading into the final minute. Bayless and Luol Deng each had a crack at a go-ahead 3-pointer on the next possession, but missed. Joe Ingles and Mitchell combined to hit three free throws to ice it in the final seconds.
--Field Level Media