Milwaukee • For the Utah Jazz, the indelible change occurred in the third quarter on Sunday night. And that change would be for the better.
Trailing the Milwaukee Bucks and perhaps headed for a second straight loss to open a pivotal road trip, Shelvin Mack took Gordon Hayward aside following a timeout. This is the challenge he put forth. Let's get three consecutive defensive stops, Mack told his small forward. Hayward nodded in agreement. Next thing you knew, the Jazz players were huddled together, imploring each other to play harder on both ends.
Utah scored 20 of the next 24 points.
The Jazz would go on to a resounding 94-85 win over the Bucks, before 14,124 at the Bradley Center. And by the end of Utah's 34th win of the season, there wasn't much intrigue or drama, as most of the crowd had left into the cold Milwaukee night.
But that 20-4 run in those seven minutes changed Utah's fortunes, and allowed the Jazz to flex their muscles when they needed to the most.
"We ultimately were able to get some defensive stops, and then we started making shots," Hayward said. "That's how we got the big lead, and we got some cuts to the basket for some easy shots. We just had a really good quarter defensively, and that's what carried us tonight. That was a big win for us."
In the context of a playoff race, Utah's win over the Bucks proved huge. With the Dallas Mavericks winning over the Portland Trail Blazers, the Jazz didn't lose ground in the race for the eighth and final postseason spot in the Western Conference.
In the context of a team finding its groove, Utah delivered one of its more impressive victories of the season. The Jazz looked like a different team offensively, pushing the ball in transition off made shots as well as misses. They hit shots from the perimeter and compromised Milwaukee's defense with ball movement.
As a result, the third quarter proved to be the most important 12 minutes of the game. The Jazz outscored the Bucks 31-18 to turn a close game into a rout. And when they took control, they never relinquished their hold on the game.
"I think you have to give Utah credit," Milwaukee coach Jason Kidd said. "They came out after halftime, we were kind of flat and they came out with energy. I think you saw the importance of this game, and what it meant to them, them scoring 31 points and we only scored 18. This was a low-possession game for us and we knew the pace was important. But we could never get the pace of the game in our favor."
Utah's willingness to share the ball created one of the most balanced scoring games of the year, with seven Jazz players reaching double-figures. Hayward — bouncing back from a difficult outing at the Chicago Bulls — scored 18 points. Rookie forward Trey Lyles came off the bench and scored 14. Mack had 13. Rudy Gobert, Derrick Favors and Joe Ingles had 12 points each. Rodney Hood had 10.
More importantly, Mack had a dominant floor game, adding 12 assists and four rebounds, and Gobert had 14 rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. Everyone who played contributed, and the Jazz were able to win their fifth game in six tries because of those contributions.
Jabari Parker led the Bucks with 19 points. But Milwaukee ran out of answers for the Jazz in that third quarter.
"Our game plan was really good tonight," Hayward said. "Especially defensively. We went under when we were supposed to and chased when we were supposed to and we made things difficult for them in the second half. I thought tonight would be a true test against a young and talented team. We really answered the challenge, especially in the second half. We played really well."
tjones@sltrib.com
Twitter: @tjonessltrib
