Hayward, Gobert power Jazz past Suns

SALT LAKE CITY -- Gordon Hayward scored 27 points while Rudy Gobert added a career-high 22 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks to help the Utah Jazz claim a 112-105 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night.

Boris Diaw and Joe Johnson added 13 points apiece for Utah and Shelvin Mack chipped in 12. The Jazz (14-9) won for the seventh time in their last eight games.

Devin Booker scored 21 points and Brandon Knight added 15 off the bench to lead Phoenix. The Suns (6-15) rallied back from a 23-point deficit in the second half, but never led. Phoenix fell to Utah despite out-rebounding the Jazz 41-35 and finishing with a 54-38 edge in points in the paint, a 17-8 edge in second chance points and a 15-4 edge in fastbreak points.

For the third straight game, Utah took a double-digit lead into the fourth quarter only to see it vanish through sluggish play on offense and defense. The Jazz scored just nine points through the first 10 minutes of the fourth quarter. Phoenix took full advantage of the drought.

The Suns ripped off a 12-3 run, starting with a 3-pointer from Dragan Bender and ending with a running layup jumper from Leandro Barbosa, to tie the game at 103-103 with 3:06 remaining.

Barbosa missed a go-ahead layup moments later and the Jazz reclaimed a 107-103 lead behind back-to-back baskets from Hayward and Mack with 1:30 left. Gobert hit a pair of free throws and scored on a reverse slam dunk in the final minute to ice the victory for Utah.

Utah took control on both ends of the court in the first quarter. The Jazz shot 62.5 percent (5-of-8) from the perimeter while limiting the Suns to just 31.6 percent (6-of-19) shooting from the field. Utah crashed the boards, forced turnovers and blocked several shots to keep Phoenix from finding any sort of rhythm.

It helped Utah open up a 17-6 lead on a trio of 3-pointers from Rodney Hood and Dante Exum. The Jazz built up a 33-17 lead when Johnson drilled the team's final 3-pointer of the quarter. Phoenix struggled to stay within striking distance after missing 6-of-8 shots during that stretch.

The Suns finally trimmed the deficit back to single digits in the second quarter. Barbosa converted a 3-point play to cap an 8-0 run and cut Utah's lead to 33-25. Phoenix cut it to eight once more, at 37-29, on a basket and a pair of free throws from Knight.

It didn't get closer than that for the Suns. Utah buried Phoenix into a deeper hole, going up 50-35 on a floater and hook shot from Boris Diaw sandwiched around a one-handed alley oop dunk from Rudy Gobert. The Jazz then ripped an 11-0 run late in the second quarter. Hayward and Shelvin Mack book-ended the spurt with 3-pointers, giving the Jazz a 65-43 lead with 30 seconds left before halftime.

After trailing by as many as 23 points in the third quarter, Phoenix ripped off a 15-1 run to cut the deficit in half. Barbosa finished off the run with back-to-back baskets that trimmed Utah's lead to 95-88 with 6:50 left in the fourth.

NOTES: Coach Quin Snyder returned to the Jazz bench after sitting out the Monday game against the Los Angeles Lakers with an illness. It was the first career game Snyder missed as a head coach or assistant. ... Phoenix began the night ranked first in the NBA in pace with 104.3 possessions per 48 minutes. ... Jazz F Gordon Hayward has now scored 20 or more points in nine straight games. ... In his four previous starts this season, Suns F P.J. Tucker averaged 13.5 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 46.7 percent from 3-point range.