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New York • On this night, the Utah Jazz didn't need overtime. They didn't need a big shot in a big moment, or any last-second heroics
The Jazz were aiming to leave the Barclays Center in haste in order to make their charter flight back to Salt Lake City. Naturally, they did what they could on Friday night to make their matchup against the Brooklyn Nets as drama-free as possible.
The result? A 108-86 smashing of the Nets in front of 12,809 mostly bored fans, many of whom peppered the home team with a smattering of boos throughout the second half.
It was a welcome end to a difficult road trip for the Jazz, a chief reason being a massive blizzard that postponed Saturday's matchup against the Washington Wizards. Utah's flight out just beat the incoming weather.
"We defended tonight, I think that was the biggest thing," Jazz shooting guard Rodney Hood said. "When we defend and get out in transition, we're hard to guard, we're hard to play against. When we rack up stops like we do, we're a really good team. I think that was the recipe, just by doing that over 48 minutes."
For the Jazz, it didn't hurt that Brooklyn is proving to he a hapless bunch this season. The Nets looked lost on both ends for most of the game, losing the battle in the paint and allowing Utah to outrebound them 40-24.
But on this night, the Jazz also played very well. Utah placed seven guys in double figures — all five of their starters as well as Trevor Booker with 13 points and Trey Burke with 12. The Jazz shot 57 percent from the field and went 9-for-16 from 3-point range.
As a result, there wasn't much angst to this one beyond the first quarter. Ironically, Brooklyn started the game on a 12-2 run, prompting Utah coach Quin Snyder to call an early timeout. His team made a late charge to close the deficit to 23-22 by the end of the first quarter. The Jazz took control by halftime and never took their foot off the pedal.
"I didn't like how we started the game," Snyder said. "I didn't think we had good focus defensively. Some of that was Brooklyn had some guys who were good offensive players in Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez. But we played together and shared the ball. Everybody got into it and it was good to see the ball move. We just have to keep playing, and keep grinding."
At its apex, Utah's lead reached 31 points, and for as impressive a start the Nets had, the lead changed hands just three times. The Jazz scored 54 points in the paint and had an impressive 28 assists.
Gordon Hayward led the way with another strong all-around performance, scoring 21 points, handing out nine assists and grabbing four rebounds. Rodney Hood scored 16 points and Booker added 10 rebounds to go with those 13 points.
Two nights ago, Rudy Gobert was dominated by Robin Lopez. Against the Nets, Gobert returned the favor against his twin, Brook. Utah's 7-foot-1 center had 10 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots, not real gaudy numbers, but he was dominant as a defensive presence in the lane and held Lopez to just eight points.
"We had some crucial turnovers at critical points of the game," Brooklyn forward Thaddeus Young said. "They made shots and we didn't. It's the same song and story as it's been the last couple of games — we get off to good starts, we have good first halves, then in the second half the game just slips away from us."
With the win, the Jazz move to 19-24 on the season. The win is only Utah's second win away from Vivint Smart Home Arena since November. The Jazz pull within a half game of the Sacramento Kings for the eighth spot in the Western Conference.
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Storylines
R Utah forward Gordon Hayward has nine assists for the third time in two weeks.
• The Jazz notch 28 assists and 14 turnovers, illustrating how well they moved the ball.
• Utah establishes a double-digit advantage with a three-wing alignment. With Alec Burks still injured, Chris Johnson serves as that third wing.
Game postponed
• The Jazz's game scheduled for Saturday at Washington has been postponed. > C4