SALT LAKE CITY — After suffering a tough loss on the road in Memphis on Friday, the Utah Jazz (8-5) looked to get back on the winning track Monday against the Minnesota Timberwolves (8-6) at home at Vivint Arena. While the T-Wolves came into Salt Lake City losers of their previous two games by at least 20 points and without their No. 2 scorer, forward Andrew Wiggins who was out due to illness, they outplayed Utah down the stretch to win their fifth road game of the young season by a score of 112-102.
Minnesota center Karl-Anthony Towns led all scorers with 29 points to go along with 13 rebounds, while Bojan Bogdanovic topped Utah with 18 points.
Jazz forward/center Jeff Green (11 points) said Utah’s inability play good defense late in the fourth quarter or score was the big difference in the outcome of the game.
“We didn’t get stops and we didn’t make shots,” he said in the locker room after the game. “That’s typically what happens. They got the lead and they made plays. Credit to them.”
The teams played even through much of the six minutes of play in the first quarter, but the Jazz moved out to a five-point lead at 29-24 with just over three minutes to play in the period. Utah shot pretty well in the early going, converting 48.3% from the field in the first period, while Minnesota shot 50% from the floor. The slight difference was good for a 36-32 lead for the T-Wolves after the first 12 minutes of play.
Of note for the Jazz was former lottery pick Dante Exum seeing his first regular season action since he suffered a partial tear of his patellar tendon in March 2019 that required surgery. The young guard drew cheers from the hometown crowd when he converted a steal into a breakaway slam early in the second quarter for his first points of the season.
The teams traded leads throughout the period, but the T-Wolves were able to take a 59-56 lead into halftime. Towns paced Minnesota with 14 points, with forward Robert Covington adding 11 points. For the half, the team shot 45% from the field. The Jazz were led by forward Bogdanovic, who scored 13 points on 5 of 9 shooting from the floor, with forward Joe Ingles adding 11 off the bench. Utah shot just over 44% from the field in the first half.
The beginning of the second half saw the teams trade baskets in the early minutes of the third quarter, with Minnesota holding onto its 3-point advantage of the first three minutes. Utah ended the period up two points with the score at 78-76. Bogdanovic topped four Jazz players in double figures with 18 points through the first three quarters, while Towns led the T-Wolves with 20 points.
Utah opened up an 86-80 lead in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, but Minnesota fought back to tie the game at 88 with 6:29 to play in the game. The T-Wolves were able pull out to a 96-90 lead on the strength of three treys from Towns, who shot 7 of 15 from downtown for the game.
That lead was further extended to 103-90 with just over three minutes to play. Utah closed to within six points with under one minute to go at 108-102, but the T-Wolves would make free throws in the end to maintain their lead and capture another win on the road, beating the Jazz by 10 points.
“Obviously, we need to be better, and I think we need to be better in number of things that we didn’t do well (tonight),” said guard Donovan Mitchell (17 points) after the game.
Minnesota outscored Utah 24-14 in the last 5:30 of the fourth quarter, which turned out to be the margin of victory for the T-Wolves. Mitchell said the Jazz just didn’t play well enough late in the game to overcome Minnesota’s desire and effort.
“It’s hard to be a lot worse than we were during that stretch. Offensively, just taking care of the ball,” he said.
Though disappointed in defeat, Green said the chance for retribution comes in the very next game in Minneapolis against these same T-Wolves.
“We competed. We always bring our A game. We’re always there to compete, but things didn’t go our way tonight. That’s basketball,” he said. “We’ve got another one Wednesday (against Minnesota) and I’m really, really positive we’re going to be ready Wednesday.”