Jazz 93, Timberwolves 84
MINNEAPOLIS -- Gordon Hayward scored 16 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and the Utah Jazz beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 93-84 Saturday night.
Derrick Favors scored 19 points for Utah, which went 3-2 on a season-long five-game road trip. The Jazz have won seven of nine. Rodney Hood had 15 points, Trey Lyles had the same amount off the bench and Rudy Gobert had 11 rebounds.
Looking to make the postseason for the first time in four seasons, Utah is tied with Houston for the seventh seed in the Western Conference playoff race, a half-game ahead of Dallas. Neither the Rockets nor Mavericks played Saturday.
Ricky Rubio had 23 points for Minnesota, his fifth 20-plus point effort of the season. Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points and 11 rebounds for his 45th double-double.
Minnesota, looking for its first three-game winning streak since Thanksgiving, was coming off a double-overtime win Friday night in Washington. Utah did not play last night.
Up by 60-59 after three quarters, Hayward scored 11 points in a 14-4 run that gave the Jazz a 74-63 lead, largely with Minnesota's starters on the bench.
Averaging a team-best 19.8 points, Hayward scored on a drive, a dunk and layup that each resulted in 3-point plays and a 3-pointer from the corner in less than a 3-minute span.
Another 3-pointer, with 2:28 to play, gave Utah its biggest lead at 89-73. Hayward was 6-for-9 from the field in the final quarter after going 1-for-6 through three quarters.
Utah, averaging 19.7 turnovers in its past three games, finished with 14.
The teams were a combined 0-for-11 from the field to start the game before Favors found his touch with eight points and Hood added seven as the Jazz built a 18-10 lead after one quarter. Minnesota was 5-for-24 in the frame, its second-lowest scoring quarter of the season and the lowest by a Jazz opponent.
Minnesota got within three early in the second, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Raul Neto and Lyles quickly pushed the Utah lead back to eight.
However, Rubio scored eight points in a 13-2 Minnesota run over the final 4:55 to get the Timberwolves within 35-34 at the half.
NOTES: The teams are scheduled to meet again Friday in Salt Lake City. ... Six of Utah's final nine games are at home, including games against Golden State, San Antonio, the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas. The Jazz are a combined 2-8 this season against those teams. ... Jazz G Trey Burke, a DNP-CD in three of the last four games, was taken ninth overall by Minnesota in 2013 and traded to Utah on draft night in exchange for Timberwolves F Shabazz Muhammad (14th overall pick) and C Gorgui Dieng (21st overall). ... In its previous six games, Minnesota was averaging 113 points on 50.6 percent shooting. They also lead the league in points off turnovers (21.7 per game) this month. ... Minnesota entered the game 2-11 in the second game of back-to-back outings. It won Friday in Washington.