Jordan Clarkson's late run leads Jazz over Wizards

Field Level Media|published: Mon 4th March, 23:47 2024

Mar 4, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson (00) shoots over Washington Wizards guard Bilal Coulibaly (0) during the first half at the Delta Center. credits: Christopher Creveling-USA TODAY Sports

Jordan Clarkson scored a season-high 38 points, including 12 straight late in the fourth quarter, to lead the Utah Jazz to a 127-115 win over the Washington Wizards on Monday night in Salt Lake City.

Clarkson added 10 rebounds and seven assists to help the Jazz snap a three-game losing streak. While hitting 13 of 26 shots, the former NBA Sixth Man of the Year passed Thurl Bailey for most off-the-bench 30-point games in franchise history with 13.

Jordan Poole scored 32 points after hitting his first eight shots, Kyle Kuzma added 23 points and eight assists and Tyus Jones had 21 points, but it wasn't enough to prevent the Wizards from losing their 15th consecutive game.

Washington led by as many as 14 points in the first half, was up by 10 late in the third quarter and held a five-point advantage in the fourth before Sexton and Clarkson took over.

Baskets by Sexton tied the game at 111-111 and 113-113, the latter with 5:05 to go.

Clarkson then drove the length of the court for a go-ahead layup, hit a short jumper, rattled in a turnaround jump shot, drained a 3-pointer and converted a three-point play. The end of that sequence gave 125-113 Utah lead with 56 seconds remaining.

The Wizards went scoreless for 4 1/2 minutes during that decisive stretch.

John Collins had a big game for the Jazz, who had only won once in their previous nine games. He finished with 17 points, 15 rebounds and six blocked shots.

The Jazz were short-handed, with Lauri Markkanen (right quad contusion) and Walker Kessler (right foot sprain) both sidelined. Keyonte George started but only played six scoreless minutes before calling it a night due to an illness.

The Wizards used a 9-0 run to take a 34-24 lead. Washington scored a season-high 41 points in the opening quarter. Poole made his first five 3-point attempts as the Wizards seized a 56-42 lead.

Utah roared back ahead thanks to a 17-0 run. The teams combined for 149 points (75-74 Washington) in the first half, when each shot better than 55 percent.

—Field Level Media