Jordan Clarkson explodes as the Jazz clip the Hawks

The Utah Jazz defeated the Atlanta Hawks for their 2nd “ugly” win in a row. It’s a good thing the ugly wins count just the same as the pretty ones. This win wasn’t as close at the end as most ugly wins are but it certainly wasn’t an efficient game shooting and turnover wise and still the Jazz managed to win comfortably to start their three game road trip.

The Hawks have to be frustrated to lose this one. After a demoralizing loss to the Nets last night, the recipe for them to defend their home court was there in facing a Jazz team without star Donovan Mitchell. The Hawks could not take advantage of a poor shooting first half by the Jazz and only led by 1 at halftime. The Hawks got off to a fast start at the beginning of the 3rd quarter and looked like they were going to pull away from a Jazz team that couldn’t get anything going offensively. But untimely turnovers and suspect defense allowed the Jazz to gain some momentum and take a lead into the forth quarter. From there the Jazz continued to build their lead and the Hawks could never regain the edge that they had earlier in the game. The Hawks were led by Trae Young with 21 points and 7 assists.

Photo by Scott Cunningham/NBAE via Getty Images

The Jazz have to feel a bit lucky to come away from this game with a W. The way they shot in the first half, it is surprising that they weren’t down by 10-15 points at halftime. For the second straight game the Jazz looked out of sync and like they were stuck in mud on offense. It wasn’t all luck though because their defense played great in keeping them close through the first three quarters. A big key to this game is that the Jazz were down by only 1 after the 1st quarter, despite having 8 turnovers in addition to their poor shooting. The best news of the night for the Jazz is that sixth man of the year Jordan Clarkson finally broke out of his shooting slump and poured in 30 points and was a huge factor in the Jazz being able to pull away in the 4th quarter.

The Jazz continue to roll to a 7-1 record even though they arguably haven’t played their best basketball yet this season. It’s good to start the three game road trip off on the right foot, and we will see what the Jazz can do with their next matchup against the east leading Heat.

tidbits

Hawks - The Hawks suffered their first loss of the season at home. The loss drops the Hawks to 4-5, off to a disappointing start after their run to the Eastern Conference Finals last year.

Jazz - Utah played it’s first game this year without Donovan Mitchell and are now 1-0 without him this season. Rudy Gobert scored his 7th double double in 8 games so far this season.