Jazz 114, Wizards 93
SALT LAKE CITY -- Shelvin Mack had his best game of his career and the Utah Jazz looked like a different team Friday night after a rough couple of weeks in a 114-93 victory over the Washington Wizards.
Mack, coming off of a couple of subpar outings, exploded for a career-high 27 points on 11 of 17 shooting to lift Utah to only its second win in nine games. The fifth-year point guard, traded to the Jazz on the deadline last month, also had four assists and three rebounds.
Utah, hoping to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2012, improved to 30-35 and moved within 3.5 games of eighth-place Dallas in the Western Conference standings.
Gordon Hayward scored 18, while Derrick Favors and Rodney Hood each chipped in 14 points as the Jazz had their highest scoring total since a 117-114 overtime win against Houston a few weeks ago.
The Jazz shot 56.7 percent and hit nine of 16 3-pointers in the win.
All-Star John Wall totaled 24 points and nine assists, but he didn’t have enough help to prevent the Wizards from falling to 30-34 with their fourth-straight setback.
Markieff Morris had 16 points for the Wizards, who play at Denver on Saturday night.
The Jazz travel to Sacramento for a Sunday afternoon contest against the Kings.
This game had a peculiar start as both teams traded runs.
Washington scored the first seven points followed by an 8-0 spurt by the Jazz. The Wizards then had another seven-point surge, but Utah answered that by scoring 12 straight.
The Jazz settled for a 32-29 lead after the first quarter and increased that to an eight-point halftime lead.
Utah dominated the third quarter, taking a 22-point lead after a 3-point play by backup wing Chris Johnson.
Wall tried to make things interesting in the fourth quarter, but his 15-point outburst only served to make the final score less of a blowout.
This game was polar opposite of the teams' first meeting three weeks ago when the Wizards walloped the Jazz 103-89 as both teams made an early return from the All-Star break to make up a weather-delayed game.
The Wizards didn't get their first fast-break points until 9:13 of the fourth quarter.
NOTES: The Jazz had gone 2-7 with Shelvin Mack in the starting lineup since trading for him on deadline day last month, but Utah coach Quin Snyder isn't about to blame his new player for the recent slide. "What he has done for our team, I don't think there is any correlation between Shelvin joining our team and losing to Golden State on the road or San Antonio at home or Atlanta at home, or any of the teams that we have played," Snyder said. "That said, there is always a process of integrating a new player into the team." ... Jazz SG Rodney Hood returned to the starting lineup after missing Wednesday's blowout loss at Golden State with lower back pain. ... Mack played for the Wizards and coach Randy Wittman earlier in his five-year career. "I'm sure he's comfortable coming right in," Wittman said, referring to the Atlanta tie between Mack and Snyder. "Sometimes, especially for a point guard, coming into a brand new situation, not knowing the system can take a while." ... This game featured two Brazilian players: Nene (Washington) and Raul Neto (Utah).