Donovan Mitchell scored 19 of his 27 points in the second half and three other Utah Jazz players scored at least 20 points in a 124-103 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.
Jordan Clarkson scored 21 points, Rudy Gobert tallied 20 points with 17 rebounds and Bojan Bogdanovic added 20 points to help lift the Jazz to their eighth straight win.
Marcus Morris Sr. led the Clippers with 24 points and eight rebounds, while Eric Bledsoe contributed 21 points with eight assists as Los Angeles saw its four-game winning streak come to an end.
The Clippers played without Paul George (sore right elbow) for a fourth straight game. Kawhi Leonard (knee) and Nicolas Batum (ankle) were also on the sideline for this rematch of the 2021 Western Conference semifinals.
Mitchell, who had a quiet first half, gave Utah its first double-digit lead, 76-65, with 7:18 left in the third quarter. Mitchell continued to attack the basket and finished with 13 points in that quarter after scoring just eight in the opening half.
Mike Conley opened the quarter with a 3 and closed it with a bucket to put Utah up 93-81. He finished with nine points.
The Jazz outscored the Clippers 31-22 in the fourth quarter to ice the victory.
Utah scored the final six points of the first quarter to take a 35-31 lead.
The Jazz were up 38-33 when the Clippers went on a tear, scoring 12 straight sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers from Jackson and Bledsoe. Ivica Zubac then gave L.A. its biggest lead at 47-40.
Utah responded with a 13-2 surge, which included seven points from Clarkson. That helped the Jazz go into the break ahead 65-59.
Hassan Whiteside had another nice game for Utah off the bench with 11 points and seven rebounds, while starter Royce O'Neale added seven points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
-reuters
