Hayward leads Jazz past Bucks
MILWAUKEE -- Two of the NBA's young All-Stars went head to head Friday night. Giannis Antetokounmpo won the individual battle, but Gordon Hayward got the win.
Hayward made it look easy against the Milwaukee defense, scoring 29 points and leading an offense that dominated in the paint, as the Utah Jazz cruised to a 109-92 victory at the BMO Harris Bradley Center.
The Jazz (36-22) won theirs second straight after a three-game skid.
Antetokounmpo, who scored 30 points in Sunday's All-Star Game, led all scorers with 33 points and added 12 rebounds. That mattered little, as Milwaukee trailed by double digits for all but a few seconds of the second half.Forward Derrick Favors added 19 points for Utah, and center Rudy Gobert added 15 points and 14 rebounds for his sixth straight double-double and 40th of the season.
Milwaukee (25-31) had won its last three games before the All-Star break.
The Jazz led 87-75 after three quarters, and 3-pointers by George Hill (17 points), Joe Ingles and Hayward pushed the margin to 101-83 with 6:43 left.
Michael Beasley added 22 points for Milwaukee.
The Bucks opened with an 11-3 run in the first 3:13, with Beasley scoring six and Antetokounmpo five, before a timeout helped the Jazz regain their rhythm.
Hayward scored nine in a 23-5 run, as the Jazz began to shred the Milwaukee defense in the lane for layups and lob dunks. After missing its first three shots, Utah went 12 for its next 15, building a 36-27 lead after one period.
The Jazz posted a remarkable 22 points in the paint in the quarter.
The same trends continued in the second quarter. Utah got to the basket; Utah got to the line. Favors added seven second-quarter points to his eight in the first, as the Jazz finished the half with 32 points in the paint and another 11 at the line.
Hill's two free throws with 35.7 seconds left gave Utah a 59-46 lead at the break.
Antetokounmpo picked up his third foul with 2:47 left in the half and went to the bench with nine points, nine rebounds and four steals. Only a 16-point half by Beasley kept the Bucks within a reasonable margin.
Still, the Bucks did little to cut into the margin. Hayward dropped in eight more in the third quarter to reach 20 for the game. Three-pointers by Ingles and Dante Exum in the final 1:41 of the quarter sent the Jazz to the final 12 minutes with an 87-75 lead. Milwaukee never threatened to make a game of it in the fourth quarter.
NOTES: Utah C Rudy Gobert entered the game with at least one blocked shot in each of his previous 26 contests. He didn't get a block in the first half but recorded one on the first possession of the third quarter to push his streak to 27. He finished with three blocks. Gobert also recorded 15 rebounds, giving him double-figure rebounds in 41 of the last 43 games. ... G Gordon Hayward, coming off his first All-Star appearance, continued to show he is one of the NBA's best all-around players with a 20-point night that included a plus-11 rating. He has scored at least 20 in seven of the last night games, topping 30 in four of those games. ... Utah G Dante Exum tallied 12 points, giving him double figures off the bench in three straight games. Exum has reached double figures 15 times this season. ... Milwaukee G Khris Middleton continues his return to action after missing the first 50 games with a torn left hamstring. In his fifth game back, Middleton posted nine points in 23 minutes in Friday's 109-95 loss to Utah.