National Basketball Association
Utah 116, Minnesota 108
When: 10:30 PM ET, Friday, March 2, 2018
Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah
Officials: #73 Tre Maddox, #36 Brent Barnaky, #5 Kane Fitzgerald
Attendance: 18306
Rudy Gobert scored a season-high 26 points and collected 16 rebounds, and Donovan Mitchell added 26 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 116-108 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night at Salt Lake City.

Derrick Favors and Jae Crowder scored 15 apiece for the Jazz.

Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points and Jeff Teague added 25 for Minnesota. The Timberwolves lost their second consecutive game.

Karl-Anthony Towns scored 13 points but was ejected before halftime after picking up two technical fouls.

The Jazz outscored Minnesota 19-0 in second-chance points and had a 46-27 edge on the glass.

Utah carved out its largest first-quarter lead at 15-9 on a put-back dunk from Favors. Minnesota inched back in front after Gobert was called for goaltending on a hook shot from Gibson to cap a 9-2 run for the Timberwolves.

Gobert responded to the call with back-to-back blocks. The Jazz retook a 22-18 lead on the strength of consecutive baskets from Gobert and Mitchell on the other end.

Minnesota rattled off six unanswered points and went ahead 24-22 when Jamal Crawford stole the ball and fed Tyus Jones for a layup.

Utah finally made a big run toward the end of the first half. Gobert and Joe Ingles combined to score off dunks on three straight possessions to fuel a 20-6 Jazz spurt. Mitchell finished things off with a step-back jumper to give Utah a 56-45 lead going into halftime.

Towns drew his second technical foul with 23.4 seconds left in the second quarter, complicating Minnesota's comeback efforts. The Timberwolves did close the gap in the third quarter behind strong play from Teague.

Teague turned a steal into a dunk and buried a jumper on back-to-back possessions to help fuel an 11-3 run that cut the Jazz's lead to 70-66.

Minnesota closed within a basket when Teague hit a jumper to make it 94-92. The Jazz kept the Timberwolves from erasing the deficit entirely. Crowder buried a 3-pointer and Mitchell followed with back-to-back baskets to fuel 11-2 run that put Utah ahead 105-94 with 5:20 remaining.

Teague was ejected after committing a flagrant-two foul on Ricky Rubio with 5:20 left, slamming the door on any further comeback attempts by the Timberwolves.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Minnesota   Utah
Andrew Wiggins 27 Scoring Rudy Gobert 26
Jamal Crawford 4 Assists Ricky Rubio 7
Nemanja Bjelica 4 Rebounds Rudy Gobert 16
Tyus Jones 5 Free Throws Made Rudy Gobert 12
Tyus Jones 2 Steals Joe Ingles 3
N/A Blocks Rudy Gobert 4
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Minnesota 108 51.4 9-17 23-31 14 27 0 9 13
Utah 116 51.3 9-29 27-35 21 45 5 7 19
Upcoming Games
  • Utah will play their next game on the road against Sacramento. The Jazz have a W/L % of .562 after a win and .467 after a loss.
  • Minnesota will play their next game at home against Boston. The Timberwolves have a W/L % of .526 after a win and .643 after a loss.