Salt Lake City, UT (SportsNetwork.com) – Derrick Favors and Gordon Hayward
went for 56 points and 19 rebounds between them as the Utah Jazz crushed the
Phoenix Suns, 118-91, on Saturday.
Favors led the way with a career-high 32 points, Hayward added 24 and Trevor
Booked dropped 14 points off the bench in Utah’s first win of the season.
Rookie Dante Exum, the No. 5 pick in June’s draft, made three 3-pointers for
10 points in the triumph.
One night after taking down the defending-champion Spurs, Phoenix’s offense
sputtered behind the struggles of its three-headed point guard plateau. Eric
Bledsoe, Goran Dragic and Isaiah Thomas all scored 10 points, hitting just 11-
of-35 shots.
Gerald Green led six Suns in double digits with 16 points off the bench.
Utah was the better team from the opening tip. Favors and Alec Burks led the
charge, scoring 13 and 10 points, respectively, in the period, to help the
Jazz to a 33-22 lead.
The spread reached 18 early in the second quarter after Exum and Hayward
canned back-to-back 3-pointers. Phoenix responded with an 18-2 run, which
Markieff Morris capped with a mid-range jumper. The margin was four,
59-55, at halftime.
The Suns actually took a brief lead after Marcus Morris hit a 3 to start the
third and Miles Plumlee got a layup to go. Booker and Hayward countered with
layups to jumpstart an 11-0 Jazz run that all but deflated Phoenix’s chances.
The lead was at least seven the rest of the way, with it reaching 29 late in
the fourth.
Game Notes
The Suns shot 7-of-31 from 3-point range, while Utah went 7-for-26 … The
Jazz won the rebounding margin, 52-34.
