 Carter was a great defender all game, but I just made a move and tried to get to the free throw line. I didn't do that much in the second half, but I did on the final play.'' Mitchell took the ball in the backcourt in the final seconds and then drove through the lane past Carter, getting fouled by Devin Booker as he tried to make a layup. Mitchell sank the first free throw before missing the second, and Frank Kaminsky III's last-second heave was well short.Bojan Bogdanovic led the Jazz with 29 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 4 for 8 from 3-point range. Rudy Gobert had 15 points and 18 rebounds and made 11 of 12 free throws.Utah won despite shooting just 38 percent from the field and committing 23 turnovers. The Jazz made up for it with good defense, especially in the final minutes.''We didn't put our heads down after those mistakes. Got back and really worked to get stops,'' coach Quin Snyder said. ''When you do that, you have a chance. We had some really big plays down the stretch.'' The teams were tied at 70 heading into the fourth quarter before the Suns pushed ahead with five straight points. The game was tied again when Bogdanovic scored on a fast-break layup and was fouled with 1:45 left. He made the free throw to give the Jazz a 95-92 lead.Phoenix (2-2) was led by Booker's 21 points. Kelly Oubre Jr. added 18 and Carter had 15, including a 3-pointer that tied it at 95 with less than a minute left.Aron Baynes scored 12 for the Suns, including a career-high three 3-pointers. He made just 25 shots from beyond the arc in his first seven seasons, including 21 last year.Ricky Rubio faced Utah (3-1) for the first time since signing a free-agent deal with the Suns in the offseason. He finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.''I like how in the tough moments we get together and play with passion,'' Rubio said. ''The only difference not making the playoffs or making it is winning these kinds of games. I know we are young, we are learning, but we have to close out.'' Both teams struggled to make shots in the first half as the Jazz built a 46-39 lead. Bogdanovic led Utah with 14 points.MORE THAN 0.4 SECONDS?Phoenix coach Monty Williams thought Mitchell got fouled with 1.8 seconds left instead of 0.4, which made it nearly impossible to get a last-second shot toward the rim. The call was not reviewed.Williams said that was frustrating, but it wasn't his team's biggest problem.''That is a tough one to swallow but that wasn't the reason we lost,'' he said. ''Our ball movement was stagnant tonight.'' TIP-INSJazz: Dante Exum was out with a right knee injury. ... Utah outrebounded Phoenix 35-22 in the first half. ... Mitchell was called for a flagrant 1 foul in the third quarter after trying to fight around a screen by Baynes.Suns: Rubio returned after missing one game with a bruised left knee. ... Ty Jerome is out with a sprained right ankle. ... Phoenix had a moment of silence before the game for Al Bianchi, who was an assistant coach and scout for the Suns for 23 seasons, including during the team's run to the NBA Finals in 1976. The team said he died at age 87. ... Booker got a flagrant 1 foul in the third quarter for hitting Gobert in the groin while fighting around a screen.UP NEXTJazz: Host the Clippers on Wednesday.Suns: Travel to Golden State on Wednesday.---Follow David Brandt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/davidbrandt---More NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Oct 27, 2019Success came in threes for both Phoenix and Utah on Saturday. The teams will meet Monday in Phoenix to see if their long-range exploits continue.The Jazz made a season-high 18 3-pointers and tied a franchise record with 13 threes in the first half while routing Sacramento 113-81 on Saturday, while the Suns made 17 threes and tied a franchise non-overtime record with 43 attempts from distance while handing the Los Angeles Clippers a 130-122 defeat.Bojan Bogdanovic made five threes and Donovan Mitchell and Jeff Green had three apiece in Utah's win over Sacramento. Devin Booker and big men Frank Kaminsky and Dario Saric had three threes apiece when the Suns beat the Clippers."We all live long enough to have good days and bad days," said Jazz coach Quin Snyder, whose team shot 48.6 percent from 3-point range after making 28.6 percent in the first two games."Guys were being unselfish and finding the hot hand," Jazz guard Michael Conley said.More than the long ball, however, the impetus for each team's 2-1 start has come at the defensive end, where both have excelled.The Jazz have held all three opponents to under 40 percent shooting from the field, and the Suns have done that twice. Entering Sunday's games, the Jazz ranked third in the league in field-goal percentage defense (38.4); the Suns were fifth (41.4).While two-time reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert anchors the Jazz defense in the paint, the Suns have split their last two games with Aron Baynes and Kaminksy holding down the center spot in the absence of Deandre Ayton, who was suspended for 25 games for violating the league's anti-drug policy Thursday.Kaminsky, a 7-footer signed in the offseason to add veteran depth, has 37 points and 19 rebounds off the bench in the two games Ayton has missed."From Day 1, coach has talked about setting the tone on the defensive end," Kaminsky said of first-year coach Monty Williams. "All three games, we've really set the tone the first half, that we're here to play defense. Nothing is going to come easy." Williams also has stressed a "no-stick" offense, in which players should pass, dribble or shoot in five-tenths of a second. They were averaging a league-high 29.3 assists per game entering Sunday, led by veteran Ricky Rubio (10.0) and Booker (8.3)."We're resilient," said Suns forward Kelly Oubre Jr., who has scored at least 20 points in all three games. "We're together. We're ambitious and hungry. We have to keep it that way." Mitchell is averaging 23.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game and is shooting 58.7 percent from the field.The Jazz won all four games against Phoenix last season by an average score of 118.3-93.5, and they have won 14 of the last 15 meetings.--Field Level Media
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