SALT LAKE CITY -- A lack of fire and energy became enough of a problem in recent losses to cause Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert to publicly question the competitiveness of his teammates. They answered the criticism in the best way possible.

Buoyed by Gobert's 20 points, 19 rebounds and five blocked shots, the Jazz earned a 108-100 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night.

Rodney Hood also scored 20 points, Joe Ingles added 19 and George Hill tacked on 17. That trio combined to make a dozen 3-pointers.

Utah (45-29) swept the season series 3-0 after dominating from the perimeter for four quarters. The Jazz started strong and never faded down the stretch, even when New Orleans made a rally to take a brief lead after halftime.

"We could feel the energy tonight," Gobert said. "Everybody was communicating. Everybody was active. They made a run in the third, but we stayed together. We worked. We outworked them and were able to get stops and buckets the other way."

Anthony Davis scored 36 points, collected 17 rebounds and had three blocks to lead New Orleans. Jrue Holiday added 19 points.

The Pelicans (31-43) lost for only the third time in nine games but fell 4 1/2 games back of the Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets, who are tied for the final Western Conference playoff position.

Ultimately, New Orleans couldn't cool the Jazz down once Utah got hot from the perimeter.

"We started off slow on defense, and they got too many easy looks under the basket and open threes," Davis said.

Initially, New Orleans strung together a second-quarter rally behind Davis. He scored 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the quarter to keep the Pelicans within striking distance after they fell behind by 18 points. His final basket in the quarter cut Utah's lead to 54-51 with 1:17 remaining before halftime.

It helped New Orleans finally overtake the Jazz in the third quarter. The Pelicans went ahead 61-59 on a tip-in basket from Solomon Hill (11 points, eight rebounds).

Utah didn't let the Pelicans stay in front for long. The Jazz heated up again from the perimeter and took the lead again on a Hill 3-pointer. Then Ingles and Johnson buried back-to-back 3-pointers to fuel a 10-0 run. Gobert capped off the surge with a hammer dunk, putting Utah ahead 78-65.

The Pelicans drew no closer than six points in the fourth quarter. They cut the deficit to 102-96 on a 3-pointer from Davis. Utah answered with a jumper from Johnson and a 3-pointer from Hood to seal the win in the final minute.

"They made some tough shots down the stretch," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. "Every time they got separation, we found a way to get ourselves back in it. We just couldn't get over the hump."

One thing that helped Utah snuff out a comeback was limiting Davis after halftime. Johnson switched over to cover the forward in the second half, and Gobert moved over to Dante Cunningham. It worked out perfectly. Johnson blanketed Davis and forced him to kick the ball out to other shooters, and Gobert had the freedom to shut down driving lanes to the rim.

"We talked about it before the game," Gobert said. "We were waiting to see if AD was going to hit shots, and he did, so we made an adjustment, and I think that was great. I was able to protect the rim and Joe could be more aggressive on AD."

As good as Utah's shooting turned out to be, Jazz coach Quin Snyder singled out the defense as a much more critical factor in the win.

"The most important thing for our team is just to stay focused on playing solid defense," Snyder said. "That's who we've been, and that's what's got us to the position we're in. That has to continue no matter who is in the game, no matter who's injured. That's just got to be a priority."

NOTES: Utah F Gordon Hayward (quad contusion) and G Alec Burks (personal reasons) did not play. ... New Orleans C DeMarcus Cousins (ankle sprain) missed his second consecutive game. ... Jazz G Joe Ingles shot 5 of 5 from long distance. As a team, Utah went 15 of 27 from the perimeter. ... Pelicans PF Anthony Davis scored just 32 combined points in his previous two games against the Jazz this season. He averaged 22.7 points over the three games. ... Utah C Rudy Gobert earned his 52nd double-double of the season.