Jordan Clarkson, Emmanuel Mudiay key decisive stretch to give Jazz win over Heat

SALT LAKE CITY — The circumstances were somewhat different Wednesday night, but for the second straight game Jordan Clarkson and Emmanuel Mudiay played a huge part in lifting the Utah Jazz to victory.

Whereas Monday against the Dallas Mavericks on the road, the bench pair scored 14 of the Jazz’s last 16 points of the third quarter to give Utah a 16-point lead, Wednesday against the Miami Heat at Vivint Arena they teamed up for a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter to turn a two-point lead into an 11-point advantage and Utah ultimately won, 116-101.

The Jazz have now won four straight heading into this weekend’s All-Star break and carry a record of 36-18.

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The first 38 minutes of the contest were a back-and-forth battle, and Utah led 87-85 with 9:17 remaining when Mudiay got fouled. He made one of two free throws, but it created a big enough dam for him and Clarkson during the next 67 seconds. 

On the ensuing possession, Clarkson got a rebound off a Duncan Robinson miss and made a 3-pointer to end the possession. Jimmy Butler missed on Miami’s next time down the floor, Georges Niang got the rebound and Mudiay was fouled a few seconds later.

He made both free throws this time to stretch the Jazz advantage to eight at 93-85. 

After another Butler miss, Rudy Gobert secured the rebound and Clarkson made a 3-pointer to build the lead to 11, and Utah didn’t look back from there. The Jazz closed the game on a 7-0 run.

“The group that we had out there, we wanted to run,” Mudiay said of the decisive stretch. “We changed the tempo of the game. That’s just what we did. We just like transition ball. The less they can set their defense, the more we can get out and run and just have fun.

“I think when you start running like that, you don’t have to waste a possession down. You can get a quicker shot, better shot when you push the tempo. You get easier looks, too.”

Said Donovan Mitchell (who finished with a game-high 26 points) of Clarkson’s (21 points) continued run of strong play that includes at least 21 points in each of the last three outings: “Obviously we all knew that he was a scorer, but I think the biggest thing is the fact that he’s playing team basketball. I wouldn’t say he wasn’t before, but I didn’t really know much about him outside of he can score.”

Mitchell added that Clarkson was trying to give strong effort on the defensive end in trying to slow the Heat’s Robinson (18 points on six 3-pointers).

“On top of that, going out there and getting buckets on the offensive end, he’s finding guys who are open, taking his time,” Mitchell said of Clarkson. “We all love playing with him.”

While the Jazz ended up winning comfortably, the game was a battle most of the way. The Heat led by three at the end of the first quarter and by five at halftime, as Utah could never get the advantage despite drawing to within a point on three occasions in the second quarter.

Both teams were playing well defensively (the Heat had an 8-2 advantage in steals at intermission), and the Jazz made just five of their 19 3-point attempts in the first two quarters.

The sides went back-and-forth in the first few minutes of the third before Utah finally broke through to take the lead at the 3:58 mark of the frame. After a Kendrick Nunn jumper gave Miami the lead back at 69-68, Utah went on a 7-0 run to take a 75-69 edge and entered the fourth quarter leading 79-74.

The Jazz wound up shooting 48% on the night compared to 43% for the visitors. Utah outrebounded Miami by 16 and finished with 10 more points in the paint.

After the All-Star break, the Jazz will be back in action Friday, Feb. 21 at home against San Antonio.