Timberwolves at Jazz
The Utah Jazz look to take another step toward securing a postseason berth when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday. The Jazz are in a virtual tie for seventh place in the Western Conference with the Los Angeles Clippers by posting a 114-97 victory over the host Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.
Utah was tied with the Suns late in the third quarter before exploding to lead by as many as 21 while closing the game in impressive fashion. "We lost two straight and so we needed this one," star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell told reporters, "and we need the one (Thursday)." The Timberwolves are running out of time to make a playoff charge and they were routed 133-107 by the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday in the first outing of a stretch in which five of six games are on the road. Small forward Andrew Wiggins (thigh) will likely miss his fourth straight game while point guard Derrick Rose - who scored a career-best 50 points against Utah earlier this season - could miss his second straight game with an elbow injury.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS North (Minnesota), AT&T SportsNet (Utah)
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (32-36): Center Karl-Anthony Towns missed one game with a knee injury but appeared pretty spry in the loss to Denver by recording 34 points on 14-of-25 shooting and collecting 10 rebounds. The two-time All-Star has been on a scoring roll by scoring 34 or more points in six of his past eight appearances and he is averaging 35 points during the stretch while shooting 59.2 percent from the field. Shooting guard Josh Okogie was scoreless in 23 minutes against Denver and is mired in a seven-game slump in which he is averaging 3.1 points on 8-of-29 shooting.
ABOUT THE JAZZ (38-29): Mitchell scored 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter against the Suns in a contest in which his team outscored Phoenix 36-22 in the final stanza. "I felt like I just let the game come to me," Mitchell said afterward. "Kind of figured things out in the first half and then going more into an attack mode in the second half." Utah was strong in the interior with center Rudy Gobert registering 18 points and 20 rebounds while holding Suns rookie Deandre Ayton to two points on 1-of-9 shooting, and power forward Derrick Favors contributed 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Jazz are 2-1 against the Timberwolves this season, including a 106-102 home triumph Jan. 25.
2. Utah PG Ricky Rubio (hamstring) had six points on 1-of-7 shooting in 22 minutes against Phoenix after missing the previous two games.
3. Minnesota PG Tyus Jones matched his season best of 16 points against Denver and is averaging 14.5 over the past two games.