Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points, passed off 11 assists and grabbed nine rebounds to spark the NBA-best Utah Jazz to their fourth straight victory on Sunday, beating the Indiana Pacers 103-95.
Mitchell matched a career high in assists, but just missed a triple double as Utah won for the 15th time in 16 games, while the Pacers lost for the fifth time in six starts.
“My mind wasn’t really on that at the end of the day,” Mitchell said of a triple-double. “I’m just trying to go out there and find ways to impact the game.”
Photo: AP
The Jazz, who improved to 19-5 with the road triumph, also had 18 points from Croatian forward Bojan Bogdanovic, 16 points and 16 rebounds from French center Rudy Gobert and 17 points off the bench by guard Jordan Clarkson.
“There were times we were tired, there were times we had to dig deep, but we did it collectively and I think that’s the biggest thing,” Mitchell said.
Indiana fell to 12-12 with a third consecutive loss despite 20 points by Lithuanian forward Domantas Sabonis, who fouled out in the fourth quarter after hitting only 7-of-19 from the floor thanks to Gobert’s good defense.
“My goal is to make sure they don’t score,” Gobert said. “It’s on me to make sure they take the toughest shot possible, and if they make it, they make it.”
Elsewhere, De’Aaron Fox scored 36 points on 15-of-25 shooting to spark the Sacramento Kings to their fourth consecutive triumph, a 113-110 road victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
In other games on Sunday, it was:
‧ Heat 109, Knicks
‧ Suns 100, Celtics 91
‧ Hornets 119, Wizards 97
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