Jazz Hold Off Late Rally, Beat Undermanned Warriors 113-109
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah overcame a flurry of turnovers with excellent shooting and that gave the Jazz just enough of a cushion to hold off a late Golden State rally.
Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points and Mike Conley had 27 to help Utah beat the undermanned Warriors 113-109 on Friday night.
Bojan Bogdanovic added 17 points for the Jazz, and Rudy Gobert had 19 rebounds and seven blocks. Utah shot 51% from the field and outrebounded Golden State 48-37.
Alec Burks scored 20 points to lead the Warriors. Omari Spellmen added 18, while Glenn Robinson III and Ky Bowman chipped in 17 apiece.
Golden State rallied from a 21-point deficit and cut it to 111-109 with 22.8 seconds left on back-to-back baskets from Burks and Robinson. Mitchell and Conley each hit a free throw in the final seconds to seal the victory for Utah.
"There's disappointment in the fourth quarter and how we executed offensively and then the things that we can control, particularly transition defense," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said.
Injuries left the short-handed Warriors with just eight available players. The Jazz took advantage of that limited depth early, connecting on 61% of their field goal attempts in the first half.
"If this was college and you only played two games in a week, you could do it without problem," Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. "The number of games, the travel, the NBA schedule, it wears on you and to do this with eight guys is tough."
Golden State managed to hang with Utah during the first quarter, and the Warriors twice took a one-point lead in the period. They went up 20-19 after Burks capped an 8-0 run with consecutive baskets and then claimed a 28-27 lead on a putback layup by Marquese Chriss.
A four-point play from Mitchell helped start a 22-6 run that gave the Jazz a 60-43 lead in the second quarter. Bogdanovic finished off the spurt with back-to-back baskets.
Golden State briefly cut the deficit to single digits in the third, trimming Utah's lead to 69-60 on Eric Paschall's dunk. Conley, Mitchell and Gobert each made a basket over three straight possessions to boost Utah's lead to 76-60.
After the Jazz took a 100-80 lead on a 3-pointer from Emmanuel Mudiay early in the fourth quarter, the Warriors used a 21-6 run to cut the deficit to single digits again. Willie Cauley-Stein dunked the ball for his first basket to finish off the spurt and shave Utah's lead to 106-101 with 2:19 left.
"I thought they let their guard down a little bit in the fourth quarter when they got up 20," Kerr said. "I've been around the league a long time — we're not a team that people are going to get up for right now."
SCARY SITUATION
Minutes after the game ended, the arena was evacuated because of a suspicious package discovered under a restaurant table. Police said the package turned out to be a toolbox, and the Jazz said employees were cleared by authorities to re-enter the building a couple of hours later.
Salt Lake City police Lt. Carlos Valencia said the sellout crowd was already starting to leave when the evacuation began.
Not long after both coaches finished answering postgame questions from the media, a spokesman for the Jazz told reporters to exit the building due to the suspicious package. Outside, they were directed by security to leave the premises.
Utah players quickly headed for their cars in the parking lot — center Rudy Gobert was still in uniform as he left.
Warriors players boarded their team bus.
TIP-INS
Warriors: Draymond Green (sore right heel) missed his second consecutive game and D'Angelo Russell (right thumb sprain) was sidelined for a fourth straight. ... Burks is 31 of 33 at the free throw line over his last five games. He is a career 77.7% foul shooter. … Golden State outscored Utah 10-0 in second-chance points and 18-8 in fast-break points.
Jazz: Gobert has 17 blocked shots over his last four games. … Royce O'Neale dished out a season-high five assists. … The Jazz committed 21 turnovers, leading to 31 points for the Warriors.
UP NEXT
Warriors: Host the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday.
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