Phoenix Suns Scorch Utah Jazz In First Half

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Phoenix Suns had it going in the first half on Friday night against the Utah Jazz with a 68-52 halftime lead at home.

The Jazz were without Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell, while the Suns were healthy in their Friday night clash for first place in the Western Conference. Entering the game on Friday, the Suns trailed the Jazz by one game in the standings. Phoenix won the first two meetings of the season and this is the last one of the regular season.

That means the Suns hold the tiebreaker.

Not a bad close to the half for the @utahjazz who trail by 16 after cutting the deficit down from 23.

Bojan Bogdanovic leads the Jazz with 15 points at the half. #takenote pic.twitter.com/sxx5kSBdnf

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) May 1, 2021

The game started getting out of hand in the first quarter when the Suns outscored the Jazz 39-23. They shot 69 percent from the field (17-25) and had 24 points in the paint. Utah made 45 percent (9-20) of their field goal attempts and just 10 points in the paint. Devin Booker was already up to 14 points after the first 12 minutes.

It was a better second quarter for the Jazz but it was still a big lead for the home team. Each team scored 29 points in the second quarter. Booker scored just two points in the second, while Bojan Bogdanovic had 8 points.

At the half, Booker led the way with 16 points. Two other Suns players reached double figures with 13 points from Mikal Bridges and 11 points from Deandre Ayton. Bogdanovic was the only Jazz player to score in double figures with 15 points.

The Jazz wrapped up a three-game road trip in Phoenix. They will now return home for five straight beginning on Saturday, May 1 against the Toronto Raptors at 8 p.m. MDT on AT&T SportsNet.