Utah Jazz Cruise Past Golden State Warriors
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points and set an NBA rookie record for 3-pointers, Derrick Favors added 16 points and nine rebounds, and the Utah Jazz cruised to a 119-79 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.
Jonas Jerebko scored 14 points, and Rudy Gobert and Ricky Rubio added 13 points apiece for the Jazz. Utah (48-33) won its sixth straight game and went 3-1 in the season series with Golden State.
The Jazz can claim the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference with a win over Portland on Wednesday night.
Even with a loss to the Blazers, Utah is assured of falling no lower than the No. 5 seed.
Klay Thompson scored 23 points and Kevin Durrant added 13 for the Warriors, who finished the season at 58-24. Golden State, the No. 2 seed in the West, never led in the game and shot just 35 percent from the field.
Mitchell went 4 of 5 behind the arc and has made 186 3-pointers this season, breaking Damian Lillard's record for a first-year player.
Utah dominated on both ends of the court during the first quarter. The Jazz used an 18-3 run to stake out a 24-9 lead. Rubio took a steal in for a layup and Favors scored on a pair of dunks to ignite the run.
Mitchell scored on back-to-back possessions and then followed with a 3-pointer to help push the lead to 33-14. The rookie totaled 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the first quarter alone.
Golden State appeared it might rally after Durant scored back-to-back baskets to cut Utah's lead to 35-22. That's as close as the Warriors got. Jerebko and Royce O' Neale combined to score three straight baskets to push the lead to 43-24.
Utah led by as many as 45 points in the second half. The Jazz took their largest lead at 103-58 when Jerebko buried a pair of 3-pointers and Dante Exum added a dunk to polish off a 10-2 run to open the fourth quarter.
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