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Utah Jazz hold off Brooklyn Nets, halt four-game slide

By Spencer Durrant, The Sports Xchange
Utah Jazz Twitter
Utah Jazz Twitter

SALT LAKE CITY -- After a four-game losing streak in which their offense only produced 95.3 points per game, the Utah Jazz -- playing without center Rudy Gobert -- beat the Brooklyn Nets 114-106 on Saturday.

A late rally by Brooklyn cut Utah's lead -- as large as 18 in the second half -- to four with less than a minute to play. The Jazz won a critical jump ball with 50 seconds on the clock, and Nets guard Joe Harris promptly fouled Utah rookie guard Donovan Mitchell, who made both free throws.

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Jazz forward Thabo Sefalosha missed a layup on an ensuing fast break, which Mitchell rebounded and scored to give the Jazz an eight-point lead and, eventually, the win.

Mitchell (26 points) had his third game scoring 20 or more in the month of November, making it the fourth such game for the first-year player from the University of Louisville.

Utah played without Gobert, who was ruled out an hour before tip-off due to a right knee contusion suffered Friday night in a home loss to the Miami Heat. Jazz forward Derrick Favors stepped up in Gobert's absence, scoring 24 points and pulling down 12 rebounds, well above his season averages of 10.3 points and 4.4 rebounds.

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The Nets entered Salt Lake City on the second night of a back-to-back. Brooklyn beat the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night, but couldn't carry that momentum to a win in its final contest of a five-game West Coast road trip.

Nets guard D'Angelo Russell scored 26 points along with six rebounds and three assists while forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 19 points and six rebounds.

Brooklyn will return home to play the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.

NOTES: Jazz rookie G Donovan Mitchell had his third game scoring 20 or more points in the month of November. He has reached 20 points four times. ... Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson called the game against Utah the "next step" for the Nets, as they haven't shown an ability yet to consistently win the second game of a back-to-back. ... Prior to Saturday's game, the Nets had an offensive rating of 102.1, good for 22nd in the NBA, nearly five points better than Utah's 97.3 offensive rating.

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