Utah @ Atlanta preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 6, 2017 ) Utah 120, Atlanta 95

The Utah Jazz have struggled to score points all season, but enter the start of a three-game road trip Monday at the Atlanta Hawks following one of their best offensive performances. Rookie Donovan Mitchell continued his emergence with 23 points in Saturday’s 125-113 victory over the Clippers, helping the Jazz set season highs in points in a quarter (39) and a half (76) despite missing guard Rodney Hood due to a leg injury.

“Being aggressive,” Utah center Rudy Gobert told reporters after the victory. "Moved the ball. Our defense got a lot of deflections, a lot of steals and got a lot of easy stuff from that.” The Hawks had won three of their previous four games and were seventh in the NBA in 3-point shooting before an awful night from long range in a 113-97 home loss to Chicago on Saturday. Atlanta missed 34 of its first 38 3-point attempts and finished 11-of-48 from beyond the arc, missing a chance to win three straight games for the first time this season. “The shot isn’t falling, but you have to find another way to win the game,” Atlanta guard Dennis Schroder told the media afterward. “We didn’t do it tonight. We have to keep moving on to the next game.”

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet (Salt Lake City), FS Southeast (Atlanta)

ABOUT THE JAZZ (19-27): Mitchell is building a strong case for rookie of the year consideration, averaging 23.4 points on 49.2 percent shooting from the field since Dec. 1. Forward Joe Ingles matched a career high with 21 points against the Clippers, while Gobert – recovering from a knee injury – followed a 23-point, 14-rebound effort Friday against the Knicks with 16 points and seven rebounds. The Jazz rank 26th in scoring (101.8 points per game).

ABOUT THE HAWKS (13-32): Atlanta’s Ersan Ilyasova and Marco Belinelli combined to finish 0-for-12 from 3-point range as the Hawks set a franchise record for 3-point attempts. Atlanta’s rough night shooting dropped it to ninth in the league in 3-point percentage (36.7 percent). Schroder scored 18 points against the Bulls and has reached double figures scoring in 13 consecutive games, while leading Atlanta in scoring (20 points per game) and assists (6.7 per contest).

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Atlanta C Dewayne Dedmon is averaging nine points and 10.3 rebounds across his past three games.

2. Hood, who suffered a lower leg contusion Friday, is averaging a career-best 16.7 points per game.

3. The Jazz, who are 5-18 on the road, play seven of their next eight games away from home.

PREDICTION: Jazz 112, Hawks 103