CHARLOTTE — It’s been a recurring theme for much of this NBA season: the Utah Jazz fall behind in the first half, only to have to mount a second-half run to come from behind in order to capture a victory.

While this is certainly not a particularly suitable strategy for long-term success in the NBA, it can work occasionally and instill a certain confidence in a team that allows them to remain calm in the face of adversity so players can refocus and perform in the way required to win ball games.

“This one feels good, but as much as it feels good, we’ve got to be able to lock in from the start. We can’t let teams that we should beat stick around. That’s when they get confident.” — Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell

Such a scenario occurred again on Saturday as the Jazz took on the Charlotte Hornets on the road at the Spectrum Center in downtown Buzz City. After falling behind in the first quarter, the Jazz trailed by as much as 12 points until they were able to close the gap and take the lead at 95-92 with just over nine minutes to play in the fourth period. And as has been their custom in the past four games of their recent win streak, Utah (18-11) was able to grind out a win 114-107 over the Hornets (13-19).

Forward Bojan Bogdanovic led the Jazz with 26 points, guard Donovan Mitchell added 20 points and nine assists, and center Rudy Gobert tallied 17 points and grabbed 19 rebounds.

Bogey’s hot shooting in the second half helped the Jazz take the lead in the final period, which they would never relinquish even though it was close until the final seconds.

“I have never seen a guy (where) everyone on the bench every time he gets it yelled at him to shoot, and he usually does at the right times,” Utah head coach Quin Snyder said after the game. “Particularly when the game gets close, he is at his best.”

“Today I had a mismatch against like a smaller guy so I tried to post him (in the corner) and on the free-throw line,” Bogdanovic said. “No matter who we play, whoever has a mismatch, we try to make the right play and look for that guy.”

Snyder noted that the team made some adjustments that allowed the Jazz to exploit the mismatches Bogdanovic mentioned. Those changes helped the team bolster its defensive intensity in the third quarter, and it began chipping away at Charlotte’s lead.

“We showed them a couple of clips at halftime of guys that we felt like were open in the corners and we have an unselfish team, we just have to be aware of what the defense is doing and where the rotations are and how to find people,” he said. “I think when we have that awareness, we are a team that’s willing to move the ball and that’s what happened, the ball started moving and our guys got open looks.”

Mitchell registered nine assists playing point guard in Mike Conley’s absence. Snyder praised his young players’ continuing development as facilitators.

“Don’s really unselfish and when you’re as offensively talented as Donovan is, and you’re also asked to play the point, you have to find a balance and I think he’s doing a really good job,” Snyder said. “His understanding of that is really taking steps. Tonight, they were trapping him. They were blitzing him in pick and roll. When that happens, he’s more than willing to get off the ball and pass it, and that’s what he did.”

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Mitchell said even though the Jazz had to mount another comeback, he was pleased with how the team responded when they got down, by maintaining their poise and channeling their focus to gain control of the game when it mattered.

“This one feels good, but as much as it feels good, we’ve got to be able to lock in from the start. We can’t let teams that we should beat stick around. That’s when they get confident,” he said. “Shout out to all those guys (on Charlotte). They played comfortably and free, but we let them do what they wanted to do and they took us out of our (game plan in the first half).”

“We came in (at halftime) and we locked in on the film and did what we were supposed to do. It’s not always going to be pretty,” he said. “We missed some shots that we normally make and made some turnovers, but like I’ve been saying the past three games — resiliency (is key). The good teams do that and I think that’s one thing that we can look at and be proud about.”

Utah now heads to Miami to play the Heat Monday at American Airlines Arena in South Beach. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. MST.

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