Mitchell’s 33 Powers Jazz Past Lakers 113-95

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz were without all three of their point guards but Donovan Mitchell helped Utah beat the Los Angeles Lakers 113-95.

Mitchell scored 33 points, including 19 points in the first half, hitting 4-of-5 from downtown. He also had 9 assists, playing as the primary point guard. Joe Ingles dropped 14 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.

Michael Beasley led the Lakers with 17 points and Brandon Ingram added 15 points.

After scoring a career-high 41 points on Wednesday, former Ute Kyle Kuzma scored 11 points on 4-for-18 shooting from the field to go with 8 rebounds.

Mitchell, Ingles Lift Jazz In First Half

Royce O’Neale got the start in place of Raul Neto with Mitchell moving over to point guard. O’Neale had a great start to the game with two three-pointers and Gobert scored a bucket in the paint to give the Jazz an 8-3 lead when the Lakers called a timeout early in the game.

Mitchell scored nine straight points for Utah to give them a 17-9 lead before Gobert bumped the lead to 10 on a put-back dunk.

The Lakers climbed back into the game on an 11-1 run after three-pointers by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Josh Hart, the game was tied at 20 with two minutes left in the first quarter.

Joe Ingles hit a half-court shot at the buzzer but it didn’t count, Utah outscored the Lakers 12-6 to end the first quarter with a 32-26 lead.

Utah had a 36-30 lead before they went on a 10-4 run to get their biggest lead of the game, 46-34 with 6:53 left in the second quarter.

Kuzma scored his first point of the game on a free throw with five minutes left in the second quarter.

With three minutes left in the half, Mitchell posterized JaVale McGee that fired up Vivint Smart Home Arena, Utah had a 53-36 lead.

6’2″ vs. 7’2″ 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱 pic.twitter.com/AnzTAHygdi

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 12, 2019

Utah was rolling when Mitchell blocked a shot that led to a Gobert dunk and Ingles popped the roof off of the arena with a corner three-pointer to give the Jazz a 58-38 lead with 1:59 left in the second quarter.

The Jazz took a 62-41 lead into the locker room. Mitchell had 19 points.

Defense Carries Jazz To Win

Utah opened the second half with a quick 23-point lead but the Lakers would find a rhythm, outscoring the Jazz 23-14 to trail 76-64 with 3 minutes left in the third quarter. Mitchell scored 9 of Utah’s 14 points.

After allowing the Lakers to pull within nine points, the Jazz stretched the lead back to 15, 83-68 at the end of the third quarter.

Utah jumped out to a 12-7 advantage to start the fourth quarter to put the lead back to 20 with 6 minutes left in the game.

The Jazz coasted through the last six minutes with the Lakers outscoring Utah 20-18 to pick up the win.

Ya’ll come back now, ya hear? 🤗#TeamIsEverything pic.twitter.com/3eE3KC1bYB

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 12, 2019

Up Next

The Jazz improved to 22-21 on the season and have won two straight and three of their last four games. They will turn around and host the Chicago Bulls on Saturday at 8 p.m. on AT&T SportsNet.

It will be the first meeting of the season between the Jazz and Bulls. Both teams won at home last season with Utah defeating the Bulls 110-80 in Salt Lake City and Chicago picking up a 103-100 victory at home. The Bulls are 10-32 on the season and have lost their last six games and seven of their last eight.

The Jazz will see former Utah Utes head coach Jim Boylen back in Salt Lake City for the first time as an NBA head coach.