Bogdanovic Helps Strech Jazz Streak, Irving Back With A Bang For Brooklyn
13th January 2020
Frenchman Rudy Gobert finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds, one of a half-dozen players who finished in double figures for Utah, which improved to 27-12 for the season
- Croatia's Bojan Bogdanovic scored 31 points as the Utah Jazz won their ninth straight game with a 127-116 victory over the Washington Wizards on Sunday
- Donovan Mitchell of the Jazz missed his first game of the season while recovering from an illness
- Elsewhere, Kyrie Irving had one of the best shooting nights of his career, scoring 21 points in his first game in two months to lift the Brooklyn Nets to a 108-86 win over the hapless Atlanta Hawks
LOS ANGELES, United
States- Croatia's Bojan Bogdanovic scored 31 points as the Utah Jazz won
their ninth straight game with a 127-116 victory over the Washington Wizards on
Sunday.
Frenchman Rudy Gobert finished with 21 points and 14
rebounds, one of a half-dozen players who finished in double figures for Utah,
which improved to 27-12 for the season.
The Jazz tightened up their defense in the second half to
knock the Wizards off their game, then pulled it out in the final quarter.
Jordan Clarkson added 23 points off the bench and Joe Ingles
chipped in 20 for the Jazz, who are now 14-1 in their last 15 games.
Gobert made three dunks over a two-minute stretch after
Washington cut the deficit to 111-108 on a driving layup from Bradley Beal with
3:32 left.
Beal scored 25 points to lead the Wizards. Davis Bertans
scored 18, Jordan McRae added 16 and Ian Mahinmi chipped in 15 for Washington,
who lost for the second time in five games.
Beal was back in the lineup after missing several games with
injuries.
Donovan Mitchell of the Jazz missed his first game of the
season while recovering from an illness.
- Hapless Hawks -
Elsewhere, Kyrie Irving had one of the best shooting nights
of his career, scoring 21 points in his first game in two months to lift the
Brooklyn Nets to a 108-86 win over the hapless Atlanta Hawks.
Irving returned from missing 26 games with a right shoulder
problem, and made 10 of 11 shots in his first appearance since November 14.
"I just work on my game diligently," he said.
"You have nights like this coming back. I just love the game, I missed it
so much."
Irving nailed his one three-point attempt and had three
assists in 20 minutes. After getting 11 points by halftime, He went
five-for-five from the floor in the third before sitting down for the remainder
of the game.
He sat over the final 17:54, exiting after Brooklyn took an
87-50 lead with outcome beyond doubt.
The Nets, who were 13-13 in Irving's absence, led by as many
as 39 and won their second straight game following a seven-game losing
skid.
Taurean Prince added 14 for the Nets, who beat the Hawks for
the eighth straight time. Caris LeVert and DeAndre Jordan contributed 13 each
for the Nets.
The Hawks saw their league-worst record drop to 8-32.
In New York, Taj Gibson made a clutch free throw with 98
seconds left to give New York the lead for good as the Knicks stormed back from
a 14-point deficit in the second half to beat the Miami Heat 124-121.
Julius Randle score a game-high 26 points to lead seven
players in double figures for the Knicks, who snapped a five-game losing
streak.