Jordan Clarkson on Wednesday scored a team-high 30 points as the NBA-leading Utah Jazz won their third straight game with a 126-94 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Salt Lake City.
Bojan Bogdanovic finished with 24 points for the Jazz, who cruised to victory despite being without their one-two guard punch of Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley.
The Jazz improved to 48-18 on the season and the win — combined with the Atlanta Hawks 135-103 victory over the Phoenix Suns — allowed them to reclaim first place in the NBA and top spot in the Western Conference.
Photo: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY
“Finding our rhythm, it’s great. Right now we are trying to figure out how to play without Donovan and Mike we are trying to run more. So it’s good for me to get my confidence back and be ready for the playoffs,” said Bogdanovic, who has averaged 25.8 points in his past five contests.
Utah are a game ahead of Phoenix in the West standings with six games left in the regular season.
Luka Samanic scored 15 points for the Spurs, who are in 10th spot in the West and trying to hold onto that last position for the play-in tournament.
“You go through adversity sometimes,” Spurs player DeMar DeRozan said. “You can’t let it diminish your confidence. We still got six games left. Still six opportunities for us to be able to put ourselves in a position to keep playing.”
Elsewhere, the Hawks bench scored a combined 74 points as Atlanta continued their domination over Phoenix with a 135-103 rout.
At the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, Nikola Jokic had 32 points and 12 rebounds, while Austin Rivers scored 25 points as the Denver Nuggets beat the New York Knicks 113-97.
In other games, it was:
‧ Bucks 135, Wizards 134
‧ Rockets 115, 76ers 135
‧ Magic 96, Celtics 132
‧ Cavs 105, Trail Blazers 141
‧ T’wolves 135, Grizzlies 139
‧ Pacers 93, Kings 104
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