Salt Lake City, UT – Gordon Hayward scored 23 and Paul Millsap posted 20 points and 10 rebounds, and the Utah Jazz continued to push for a playoff spot with a 95-83 victory over the New Orleans Hornets.
Al Jefferson totaled 14 points for the Jazz, who have won six of their last seven games. They are a half-game behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. The Lakers edged Memphis Friday night. Derrick Favors played a strong physical role with 10 points, 10 boards and six blocks.
"A game like this really shows where we are as a team, where our focus is," Millsap said.
Anthony Davis had 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Hornets, who lost their second in a row overall and eighth straight on the road. New Orleans hasn't posted an away victory since Feb. 11 against Detroit. Greivis Vasquez had 21 points and nine assists.
"We certainly competed tonight," said Hornets coach Monty Williams. "We couldn't make a shot."
New Orleans held a 24-17 lead after 12 minutes, but the Hornets shot 5-of-20 in the second quarter and fell behind 45-43 at the half. Utah used a 14-2 spurt in the period. Millsap's 3-point play finished the rally with 7:44 left to give the Jazz a 34-28 edge.
Vasquez tied the game at 59 by making a running back shot midway through the third quarter, but Utah held a 71-67 lead by the end of the stanza.
An alley-oop jam from Favors, off a feed from Randy Foye, moved Utah's lead to 77-67, and the margin was increased to as many as 15 down the stretch.
Game Notes
The Hornets have lost 11 of their last 13 at Utah ... Hayward made half of his 10 3-point shots ... The Hornets were 2-of-12 from beyond the arc ... Favors tied his career-high for blocks ... The Hornets' Ryan Anderson missed all 10 of his shots from the field.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.