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 Guard Rodney Hood scored 23 points, forward Derrick Favors had
another big game, and the Jazz extended their winning streak to five
straight with an 84-81 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday
night.
Hood, the second-year Jazz player, continued his strong 2016 by
hitting nine of 18 shots to help Utah improve to 24-25 and finish
off the longest homestand of the season with a 5-1 mark.
"It's great just to win five in a row and five out of six at home,"
said Hood, whose team lost to Detroit to open the homestand before
closing it out with five in a row. "We are close to the (All-Star)
break. We have three more road games. Hopefully, we can pull out
some more wins as we enter the break."
Favors struggled from the field by hitting only four of 15 shots,
but Utah's starting power forward finished with 11 points, 15
rebounds, five blocked shots and two steals while playing an
instrumental role in this win.
Small forward Gordon Hayward scored 18 points, including several key
buckets late in the fourth quarter, and center Rudy Gobert
contributed 15 points, eight rebounds and three swats for Utah.
"I think we are an offensive juggernaut," said Jazz coach Quin
Snyder, whose team beat Denver 85-81 on Wednesday night. "We've
scored over 80 for two straight games. We missed some shots. Some of
our key guys didn't have a good night. We've been pretty consistent
offensively all year. A couple of tough games."
A couple of wins, too, despite the Jazz shooting only 39 percent on
Friday.
Guard Khris Middleton topped the Bucks scorers with 18 points, guard
Jerryd Bayless had five first-half 3-pointers for 15 points, and
center Greg Monroe and forward Giannis Antetokounmpo each
contributed 14 points.
This was Milwaukee's 14th straight loss in Utah. The Bucks dropped
to 20-32.
"I thought the energy and the effort everyone pitched in," said
Bucks coach Jason Kidd, whose team has lost five straight. "Everyone
participating put us in a position to tie or win the ball game, and
we just came up short."
Hayward put the Jazz up 70-66 with a 3-pointer midway through the
fourth quarter. Utah stretched that lead to 83-75 with 51 seconds
remaining before the Bucks made one final push.
Middleton hit three free throws and then made a 3-pointer after a
free throw by Jazz guard Raul Neto, cutting Utah's lead to 84-81.
Favors then had a bad pass picked off by Middleton who then missed
his game-tying 3-point attempt with two seconds remaining.
College basketball fans might've been surprised by the outcome of
the battle of former Duke players, Utah's Hood and Bucks forward
Jabari Parker. While Hood, the 23rd pick of the 2014 draft, had
another 20-point-plus night, his old teammate only scored two points
in a quiet night.
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"Nah, I mean, I'm just happy to see Jabari out there playing. I know
it was tough for him to get injured last season," said Hood of
Parker, who missed most of last season after going down with a
surgery-requiring knee injury. "To see him out there playing means a
lot. He's like a brother to me. Anytime you get to see him, you want
to see him do well.
Bucks center Miles Plumlee was ejected in the third quarter after
smacking Jazz small forward Joe Ingles in the back of the head with
his forearm. Referees reviewed the play and determined Plumlee's
hard foul was a Flagrant Penalty-2 violation.
"It's tough. I was feeling good," Plumlee said. "I felt like I was
helping out. I was a little surprised. I don't know. It looked worse
on film."
The Jazz were without point guard Trey Burke for the second half
because of flulike symptoms.
Utah hits the road for the next three games before the All-Star
break, beginning Saturday night in Phoenix. Milwaukee, loser of five
straight, has a few days off before hosting Boston on Tuesday.
NOTES: The Jazz found out from the NBA on Friday that the game that
as postponed because of severe weather two weeks ago in Washington
was rescheduled for Feb. 18. Utah will fly back across two time
zones to play the Celtics at home on Feb. 19. The Wizards now have a
back-to-back-to-back, as they were already scheduled to play on Feb.
19 at home and Feb. 20 in Miami. ... Bucks G Khris Middleton was
selected to participate in the 3-point contest during All-Star
Weekend. ... These two teams will have a combined four players in
the Rising Stars Challenge: F Jabari Parker (Bucks) and G Rodney
Hood, G Raul Neto and F Trey Lyles (Utah). ... The Jazz signed point
guard Erick Green to a second 10-day contract. Green only played
briefly in two appearances with the Jazz in his first 10-day deal.
The point guard was just named as the D-League's player of the month
for January.
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