The Jazz ended their little slump at the cost of deepening Atlanta’s. Those of Salt Lake City prevailed 110-98 in the visit of the Hawks to Vivint Arena, maintaining the second position in their conference and making Nate McMillan’s team fall to the 13th in the East, a position they have reached after accumulating five consecutive defeats.
The crash was relatively comfortable for Snyder’s men, who dominated for much of the game and maintained a large enough income during the second half to avoid scares. The Hawks, who made the rubber, tried to re-engage the game with some sections of success and favorable partials, but these were never forceful enough to finish hunting Utah, which kept the lead until the end and allowed a few last placid minutes.
Donovan Mitchell, author of 27 points, was in charge of leading his team in attack, also contributing 5 assists and contributing 3 steals on the other side of the court. The guard lived an efficient night in his shots, throwing with 55% success, which made him round off a performance that, without having to reach stellar heights, helped his team to regain sensations after the last two setbacks.
Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson, with 18 and 16 goals, followed in the scoring side, the latter once again leading the second unit. Rudy Gobert, on the other hand, did not put more than 9 points, but he returned to act as a reference in the paint with 14 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals.
The Hawks, on the other hand, were entrusted to the duo formed by Trae Young and Kevin Huerter, who started due to the absence of Bogdan Bogdanovic, who added 27 and 28 points respectively. Both boasted exterior success, combining for a total of 11 triples in 20 attempts (5/11 for the point guard, 6/9 for the guard), but they did not find enough support in the face of the mentioned absence of Bogdanovic and the loss of De’Andre Hunter, which made the team fall short in its attempt to catch up with the Jazz in the second half.
“Many are frustrated,” said Huerter. I think that’s the right word to define it. I don’t think any of us expected to be in this position, but we’ve put ourselves in it and we can’t blame anyone else. We have to be better in defense.
Cam Reddish, author of 16 goals, was the one who helped the couple the most backcourt, while Clint Capela managed to add 13 and add 12 rebounds. The Hawks will next travel to Denver, where they will try to prevent their consecutive losing streak from reaching six.
(Cover photo: Alex Goodlett / Getty Images)