Utah Jazz make to the playoffs with convincing victory over Phoenix Suns – NBA Recap
The Utah Jazz defeated the travelling Phoenix Suns in Salt Lake City here on Tuesday night and clinched a spot in the Western Conference Playoffs. The 100-88 victory for the Jazz was their fourth straight win, and saw them finally
make a place in the playoffs after being below 0.5 in the win-loss column at one point in the season.
Utah head into the playoffs as one of the younger teams, with 7 of their 14 players under 26, including 4 that are 21 or less. Paul Millsap scored 26 points and had 15 rebounds for the night to lead the game scoring. Jared Dudley
had a team high 15 points for the Suns, going 7 of 13 from the field.
The Jazz closed the 1st period with a 6-0 run to lead 25-19 going into the 2nd. Millsap was hot in the first, going 5 of 6 from the field to score 11 points. Phoenix responded with an 8 point burst to start
the second to lead 27-25, as Utah missed its first 7 attempts. However, they responded with an 8-0 that saw them take the lead again at 33-27. Utah maintained the advantage and led 49-42 at the close of the 1st half.
Phoenix came within one of Utah with 1:16 remaining in the 3rd period after a floating jump shot by Steve Nash, but Alec Burks scored 5 straight points for the Jazz to put them back up by 6. Utah led 73-68 going into
the final period and after the Suns rallied back early, they again pressed the trigger to go up by 85-78 with 6 minutes to go in the game.
Al Jefferson then took the game away from Phoenix. He scored 8 straight points to and extended their lead to 93-80. The Jazz held on from there to win 100-88.
Al Jefferson had 18 points and 16 rebounds for the night. Devin Harris scored 14 points for the Jazz while Gordon Hayward added 11 points and 8 assists.
Steve Nash had 14 points and 11 assists for the night while Shannon Brown added 12 points for the Suns. Michael Redd came off the bench to score 15 points in 20 minutes of playing time. Steve Nash might have played his last game
with the Phoenix Suns at home. He will become a free agent this summer and has stated that he wants to move to a championship contending team.
The Jazz shot better from the field than the Suns. They were 42.5% from the field and 4 of 13 from the distance. Phoenix, in comparison, went 40.5% from the field and 5 of 23 from the distance. Utah also out-rebounded Phoenix 56-42,
had 9 steals compared to 5 for the Suns and blocked 5 more shots. They were also better in fast break, outscoring the Suns 24-16.
Utah still have a chance of moving up to 7th place in the Western Conference. Phoenix on the other hand will play their last game of the season against San Antonio.
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