NBA: Donovan Mitchell sparks Jazz win over Knicks
Donovan Mitchell skies for a windmill dunk late in the Utah Jazz comeback win over the New York Knicks. Photo from NBA Twitter
Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points and the Utah Jazz erased a double-digit, second-half deficit to defeat the New York Knicks 113-104 Monday night in Salt Lake City.
Mitchell spearheaded a late game-clinching, 11-1 run and finished with seven rebounds, six assists and four steals to help the Jazz win their third game in a row.
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Bojan Bogdanovic scored 20 points, Mike Conley Jr. added 18 points and seven assists and Jordan Clarkson returned from missing two games due to a knee injury to score 16 points for Utah.
Julius Randle scored 30 points, Mitchell Robinson contributed 19 points and 21 rebounds and RJ Barrett fired in 23 points, but New York lost a third straight and fell for the ninth time in 11 outings.
After Utah erased the Knicks’ early 21-9 lead in the first quarter, the teams went into halftime with the Jazz up 59-57.
The third quarter went from one extreme to the other. Utah scored nine of the first 10 second-half points to go up by 10.
However, after a Udoka Azubuike dunk at the 9:53 mark, the Jazz didn’t score again until Mitchell made a layup five minutes later.
The Knicks took advantage of Utah’s nine straight missed field-goal attempts, scoring 17 consecutive points to seize a 75-68 lead. Randle matched New York’s biggest lead of the game with back-to-buckets for an 82-70 lead after a 22-point turnaround in 6 1/2 minutes.
Clarkson helped the Jazz get back into it, hitting a 3-pointer that was followed by a Trent Forrest layup and then ending the quarter with tip shot as Utah pulled within 86-82.
The Jazz regained the lead at 92-89 after a 7-0 run early in the fourth quarter and went ahead 98-92 a moment later after a pair of Royce O’Neale treys.
Already without Rudy Gobert (calf), the Jazz lost a second center with five minutes remaining when Hassan Whiteside fouled out. Azubuike stepped up to the challenge, though, scoring on a dunk off of a nice Mitchell offensive rebound and pass to end a five-point run by the Knicks. He also grabbed four key rebounds down the stretch.
