Jazz snap Pacers’ win streak at four
Rudy Gobert had 23 points and 14 rebounds, Donovan Mitchell finished with 20 points and six assists, and the Utah Jazz snapped the Indiana Pacers’ fourgame winning streak with a 104-84 victory on Wednesday night.
The Jazz improved to 15-2 over their last 17 games. Ricky Rubio finished with 18 points and seven assists for Utah, and reserve Jae Crowder added 16 points. Joe Ingles had 11 points and 10 assists.
Utah outscored Indiana 28-12 over the final eight minutes of the first quarter and led 54-44 at half-time. Indiana pulled within single digits a couple of times in the third, but Utah was too much on a night when the Pacers shot 38.6 per cent from the floor.
Utah shot 51 per cent from the floor and had 30 assists on 51 baskets, while Indiana had just 12 assists.
The lone bright spot for Indiana on offence was Myles Turner, who finished with 24 points. Bojan Bogdanovic and Victor Oladipo each scored 13 points, and Cory Joseph had 12 points and six rebounds.
TOUGH ROAD AHEAD
At 37-28, Indiana are far ahead of where many expected the team to be in March. While the Pacers are almost locked into the Eastern Conference play-off picture, their seeding is less certain. The Pacers are on Cleveland’s heels for the third play-off spot, but after a matchup with Atlanta tomorrow, Indiana’s next four games will be against current Eastern Conference play-off teams, with two of those contests on the road.