Change is good, as Jazz lineup shows in win over Nets to snap losing streak

In the midst of a four-game losing streak, the Utah Jazz had to patch together a rotation to break out of their slump against the Brooklyn Nets. And they had to do it without their best player.

Some of the changes were by choice. Some were by necessity.

On Saturday night, all of them worked.

The Jazz still had to sweat out their second win of November, as a 17-point lead with 6:35 left dwindled to four points in the final minute. But led by Derrick Favors, Donovan Mitchell and Rodney Hood — the players most affected by changes in Utah’s rotation — the Jazz were able to breathe with a 114-106 victory at Vivint Smart Home Arena.

“We felt it out there: We felt that we needed a win.” said Favors.

In his eighth season with the Jazz, Favors dominated the paint against the Nets by looking like his old self.

The 26-year-old forward filled in at center for Rudy Gobert, who sat out with a knee injury. Rolling hard to the rim with space he had yet to enjoy this season, Favors reached season-highs in both points (24) and rebounds (12).

With Favors in the middle, the Jazz (6-7) enjoyed a relative bounty of offensive success after scoring only four baskets in the second half the night before against Miami.

It was Favors’ highest-scoring game since March 2016 — since then, he’s dealt with injury. Particularly against the Nets team that once traded him as a rookie, he was glad to have a statement game.

“I know a lot of people was down on me, saying all kinds of crazy stuff,” he said. “It’s always good to go out there and show people, ‘Look, I’m 100 percent healthy. I’m still the same player.’”

Favors’ success raised a tough question: Do the Jazz play better with only one big man in the lineup? The answer may create a paradoxical effect for Favors, whose good play could move the Jazz toward more lineups with a wing playing the 4-spot. Thabo Sefolosha, who had nine points, nine rebounds and five steals, led the team in plus-minus rating (plus-17).

Coach Quin Snyder acknowledged Utah’s pick-and-roll game with Favors thrived with more open space under the rim. But he put a pin in the long-term implications of the performance for another day — this Favors performance, he said, was carried by his mentality into the game.

“Whatever the floor looks like, what he did on both ends of the floor — he knew how much we needed him, and we rode him,” Snyder said. “I called a timeout or two just to give him a blow. But he was obviously really, really good tonight.”

The rest of the Jazz also found some stability on offense against a Nets team that is next-to-last in the NBA in points allowed.

Starting his second straight game, Mitchell followed up a few ugly shooting nights in a row with a team-leading 26 points, attacking the basket more aggressively than in the past week. The player he replaced in the first five, Hood, was able to find a rhythm coming off the bench with 19 points — including 11 during a hot stretch in the first half.

Even the mainstay starters looked more settled Saturday: Ricky Rubio’s assist-to-turnover ratio swung the right way (8-to-1) and he scored 10 points on nine shots. Joe Ingles added 17 points, six rebounds and five assists.

What looked like a surefire win became a question toward the end: The Nets went on a 19-6 run, bringing some suspense with them. With a 108-104 lead, Ingles won a jump ball that led to Mitchell getting on the free throw line. Mitchell then stretched the lead further with a tip-in with 32 seconds left that clinched the game.

It didn’t help the Nets that D’Angelo Russell, who diced the Jazz for 26 points, injured his knee late in the game and wasn’t available for crunchtime.

The Jazz face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the last game of their homestand before a four-game road trip.