Utah Jazz Get Crushed By Brooklyn Nets In First Road Loss Of Season

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – From start to finish, it was a rough night for the Utah Jazz as they fell to the Brooklyn Nets 130-96 in their first road loss of the season.

Entering the game against the Brooklyn Nets, the Utah Jazz won their first three road games to start the season.

Donovan Mitchell led the Jazz with a season-high 31 points, along with 4 rebounds and 4 assists on 10-of-22 shooting from the field and 3-for-8 from downtown. Jordan Clarkson recorded 12 points off the bench, while Royce O’Neale and Rudy Gobert chipped in 10 points apiece.

The Nets were without star forward Kevin Durant who was in quarantine due to exposure to COVID-19 but that didn’t seem to matter. Kyrie Irving had 29 points to lead Brooklyn. The all-star point guard also had 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals, shooting 12-of-19 from the floor and made five of his seven three-point attempts.

Caris LeVert dropped 24 points off the bench, Jarrett Allen had 19 points and 18 rebounds.

At the end of the third quarter, the @UtahJazz trail the Brooklyn Nets 98-73.

Donovan Mitchell has 24 points, four rebounds, and four assists.

O'Neale and Gobert each have 10. #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/LoeSiAcfOR

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) January 6, 2021

Brooklyn Nets Crush Utah Jazz In First Half

The Nets jumped on the Jazz early in the game, getting off to a 20-6 lead in the first quarter. They outscored Utah 35-14 in the first 12 minutes. The Jazz shot 19 percent from the field (4-21), and 14 percent (1-7) from downtown.

Utah improved offensively in the second quarter but didn’t really carve into the large deficit. The Jazz outscored the Nets 30-28 in the second quarter and Brooklyn had a 63-44 lead at the break.

Donovan Mitchell had 14 points to lead the Jazz. Royce O’Neale added 10 points. Utah shot 37 percent (16-43) from the field and 26 percent from beyond the arc (4-15).

Kyrie Irving scored 22 points in the opening half, with Jarrett Allen adding 11 points and 9 rebounds. The Nets shot 55 percent from the floor (26-48).

Nets Cruise To Win With Dominating Second Half Against Jazz

Brooklyn played better in the third quarter and the Jazz couldn’t respond. The Nets outscored Utah 35-29 in the third quarter. When the fourth quarter came around, Quin Snyder emptied his bench a couple of minutes into the period. Nets head coach Steve Nash didn’t play Irving in the final quarter.

The Nets outscored the Jazz 32-23 in the fourth quarter.

Utah dropped to 4-3 on the season. They will have a short turnaround as they will face the New York Knicks on Wednesday, January 6 at 5:30 p.m. MST on AT&T SportsNet. It’s the third stop on the Jazz seven-game road trip.