Minneapolis • The Utah Jazz have been a bit spotty lately.
And that’s to be expected on some levels. Despite going 24-5 since January, no NBA team can be expected to play at peak level every night. So losses to the Atlanta Hawks and the Boston Celtics can be excused a bit, even if disappointing. And even close wins like Friday night against the Memphis Grizzlies can be explained.
Especially if the Jazz can perform like they did on Sunday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Those are the games — the ones with heavy playoff implications — that the Jazz know they need to play well in. And a 121-97 win over Minnesota was huge for multiple reasons.
“It’s a win over a direct playoff competitor,” Utah center Rudy Gobert said. “That was big for us. They are all big at this point, but this one was especially big.”
In the standings, the Jazz moved into the sixth spot of the Western Conference. They moved a step closer to clinching a playoff spot, which could come this week if Utah plays well in the coming games. They moved to 44-33 on the season. And with five games remaining, they won another Northwest Division game.
But, this win was big for other reasons. Ricky Rubio, in his second return to the Target Center, scored a team-high 23 points, and did so while hitting five 3-pointers. In a November win over the Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena, Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau disdainfully and repeatedly yelled “leave him out there!!!” at his players whenever Rubio received the ball on the perimeter.
On Sunday night, the Target Center groaned louder with each Rubio 3. In many ways, Sunday night provided a microcosm to Rubio’s season. In November, Utah’s point guard demanded zero respect outside of the lane. In April, he burned the nets with every opportunity.
“You always want to play well against your old team,” Rubio said. “ I mean, we always talk about it. When Thabo [Sefolosha] plays against Atlanta, or Jonas [Jerebko] with Boston, everybody had their own team and they want to play well there. So it feels good to play well here.”
There was also the game within the game. The Jazz and Wolves don’t like each other, the product of a wild game in March at Vivint Smart Home Arena where Minnesota point guard Jeff Teague almost started a brawl by hip-checking Rubio into the stands.
After the win Sunday night — when Teague was sidelined by a knee injury — Jazz players spoke of how much the Wolves were trash-talking on the floor. On the record, multiple players made sure to say the right things. Off the record, Sunday was a win the Jazz savored, for more reasons than just the playoff race.
During the game, Jae Crowder and Minnesota forward Jimmy Butler (also sidelined with a knee injury) engaged in running dialogue, sometimes while the ball was in play. After the game, Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell tweeted an emoji sign of a zipped lip, insinuating the Jazz took care of business.
“We understood what was at stake,” Mitchell said. “We just knew the last time we came in and beat them at their place they would come out with the same type of energy. We had to match it.”
As a result, the Jazz dominated. They took the lead for good early in the second quarter by going on a 13-2 run. They led by as many as 29 points. They put six players in double figures, and once they took control of the game, they didn’t give it back.
Mitchell scored 21 points, and set a rookie record with his ninth consecutive 20-point game. Derrick Favors scored 16 points. Dante Exum scored 14 points and handed out five assists. Jonas Jerebko and Crowder scored 13 points and 10 points, respectively.
Rudy Gobert grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked four shots. The Jazz also limited Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns and didn’t allow them to impact the game.
“We just didn’t play well,” Thibodeau said. “We didn’t close the first quarter well. We worked our way back a little bit in the second quarter. But overall, we just didn’t play very well.”
Follow @Tjonessltrib