Salt Lake City, April 7 (BUS): Bojan Bogdanovic scored 27 points, Rudy Gobert added 20 points and 10 rebounds, and the Utah Jazz beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 137-101 on Wednesday night.
Jordan Clarkson scored 18 points and made 10 assists in the season, and Hassan Whiteside added 15 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks to help the Jazz win their fifth consecutive home game, the Associated Press reported.
Jaylene Hurd scored 23 points for Oklahoma City. Isaiah Robbie and Jeremiah Robinson Earl added 18 points.
With nine players inactive due to a slew of injuries, the Thunder struggled to keep up with Utah once the Jazz team found their shot.
Utah took the lead late in the first quarter after a corner kick from Bogdanovic led to a 16-2 lead. Jazz scored baskets on nine consecutive holdings.
Oklahoma City cut the lead to two points in the second quarter, as Lindy Waters hit 3-pointer 3-pointers in a row to fuel 13-2. Treasure cut to the edge for a toss-ball to block the race and cut the lead in Utah to 57-55.
Clarkson answered with back-to-back baskets to prevent Oklahoma City from overtaking the jazz. He also set up baskets from Gobert on consecutive possessions to help Utah lead 71-58 at the break. Jazz drove in double digits for nearly the entire second half.
After Thunder cut the deficit to nine on the Robinson-Earl 3-pointer, Utah used a 27-5 to build a 118-87 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Hint INS
Thunder: Robinson-Earl had a career-high scoring career after not playing in Oklahoma City’s 98-94 win over Portland the night before. … Xavier Simpson scored 11 assists in his second game in the NBA.
Jazz: Donovan Mitchell (rest), Mike Conley (maintenance of right knee injury) and Royce O’Neill (right thumb soreness) were inactive. …Utah scored an all-time high of 41 points in the first quarter. … Jared Butler scored eight assists in the second half on his way to a career high of 10.
next one
Thunder: At the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night.
Jazz: Host Phoenix on Friday night.