The Utah Jazz held on to defeat the defending champion Golden State Warriors 108-103 at Vivint Arena on Wednesday night.
Mitchell, Rubio have bad shooting nights, but come up with key plays in win
Donovan Mitchell had an off shooting night, finishing with 17 points on 5-for-26 shooting from the field, but made his presence known in other ways. Mitchell energized the Vivint Arena crowd with a block of a Klay Thompson shot that sent him tumbling into the third row.
Mitchell drew a couple of key fouls, one in the first half that gave Steph Curry his third foul, and one with 1:17 left in the fourth quarter, on a 3-point attempt with the shot clock winding down. Mitchell's two made free throws helped put the Jazz up six, but Mitchell gave the ball back to the Warriors on a turnover with 18 seconds left in the game.
Rubio also had a bad night shooting the ball, going 0 for 8 from the field, but came up with arguably the biggest play of the game when he helped force a Curry turnover with two seconds left to play. Mitchell iced the game with two free throws.
Jazz explode for five 3-pointers in a row in third-quarter run
Utah's offense came alive in a mid-third-quarter run. Jae Crowder got things started with a 3-pointer, Kyle Korver knocked down a trey, Joe Ingles hit a wide-open 3-pointer, Crowder knocked home another one in rhythm and Korver hit a 3-pointer over Thompson. Crowder then finished the quarter with a 3-pointer. All of Utah's six made baskets were 3-pointers from the six-minute mark on.
Gobert, Ingles carry Jazz
Rudy Gobert and Ingles were instrumental in the win. Gobert was great on both ends of the floor, scoring 17 points, grabbing 15 rebounds (including four offensive rebounds) and blocking four shots. Gobert helped keep the Jazz in the game in the first half, as he had 11 points during the first two quarters of play.
Ingles led the Jazz in scoring with 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting, and had some huge shots in the fourth quarter.