Grizzlies at Jazz
Following a successful road trip, the Utah Jazz get a rare home game when they host the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday. Behind 25 points from Gordon Hayward and 17 from Rodney Hood, the Jazz cruised to a 102-91 win at Miami on Saturday to cap a 4-1 voyage - during which they held opponents to an average of 92.4 points.
That sort of defense - along with continued excellence by Hayward - would serve Utah well as it tries to end a four-year playoff drought. "We wanted to get stops and I think that's what we did," Hayward told reporters after the win over the Heat. "We were able to guard and we were able to get some easy stuff. It kind of went from there." Hayward has scored at least 20 points in each of his five games after missing the first six with a broken finger and will make his season home debut in this one. The Grizzlies opened up a four-game trek of their own with a 106-96 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Memphis), ROOT (Utah)
ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (4-5): Memphis entered Sunday ranked 27th in the NBA in scoring (97 points) and 29th in shooting (41.7) and was unable to recover from a 39-point first half in Milwaukee. "We had a lot of really rushed possessions with no detail," Grizzlies coach David Fizdale told the media. "We were kind of sporadic and scattered." Marc Gasol scored 18 points and Vince Carter added 17 in a reserve role for Memphis, which played its second straight game without guard Tony Allen (groin).
ABOUT THE JAZZ (7-4): Hayward is also averaging 9.5 rebounds and six assists over the last two games while committing two turnovers in 74 minutes. Utah hopes to have fellow forward Derrick Favors back in the lineup after he left the Miami win with knee pain, ending his run of double-digit scoring efforts at four games. Center Rudy Gobert has two straight double-doubles and five for the season, tied for seventh in the NBA entering Sunday.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Jazz PG George Hill has missed four games in a row with a finger injury and is day-to-day.
2. Grizzlies PG Mike Conley is 2-of-14 from 3-point distance since making 7-of-11 against the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 4.
3. Utah is 29-10 at home against Memphis, including wins in both meetings there last season.