Jazz at Pacers
The Utah Jazz looked more like the team they want to be in a 98-86 win at Boston on Saturday, which came on the heels of two straight tough losses. The Jazz will try to carry that momentum over to the finale of a five-game trip when they visit the Indiana Pacers on Monday.
Utah was crushed 118-68 at Dallas on Wednesday and fell 113-107 at Philadelphia on Friday before locking down at the defensive end in Boston. "For us to come out as focused as we did shows a lot of character from our group - against a very good team in a difficult environment to play in," Jazz coach Quin Snyder told reporters. "I think we should be pleased with the effort." The Pacers are winners of three of four but had to finish off a 97-89 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday without All-Star guard Victor Oladipo, who left in the first quarter with knee soreness and is questionable for Monday. Indiana held Atlanta to 35.6 percent from the field and Bojan Bogdanovic picked up some of the scoring slack with 22 points.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Utah), FS Indiana
ABOUT THE JAZZ (8-8): Utah guard Donovan Mitchell took some criticism and was mad at himself for needing 35 shots to reach 31 points in Philadelphia without recording an assist. The second-year star put together a more well-rounded effort at Boston, scoring 28 points on 10-of-21 shooting while handing out six assists. "Man, we played well," Mitchell, putting all the attention on the team, told reporters after the win. "We did our thing and responded against a tough team on a back-to-back. I'm really proud of the way we played."
ABOUT THE PACERS (10-6): Rookie point guard Aaron Holiday didn't find his way off the bench for nine straight games before coming on in relief of Oladipo on Saturday and scoring 12 points - seven more than his previous NBA total - on 4-of-6 shooting in 15 minutes. "I'm a competitor, so if I get the chance, I'm going to go out there and take advantage and that's what I did," Holiday told reporters. "I just went out there and played my game. I'm just happy I could help my team win. I was told before halftime, just be ready and eventually my number was called and I was ready." Holiday knocked down three 3-pointers and added three rebounds and two assists.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Jazz C Rudy Gobert grabbed nine rebounds on Saturday - the first time this season he failed to reach double digits in the category.
2. Pacers PF Domantas Sabonis grabbed 16 rebounds on Saturday and is averaging 11.2 over the last five contests.
3. The visiting team took the two meetings last season, with Utah claiming a 104-84 win at Indiana on March 7 behind 23 points and 14 rebounds from Gobert.