SACRAMENTO (ABC4 Sports) – Without Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell, you wouldn’t think the Utah Jazz would have the greatest offensive night in franchise history.
But that’s exactly what happened Wednesday night against the Sacramento Kings, as the Jazz set a franchise record for most points in a game and the largest margin of victory in a 154-105 blowout win.
The Jazz snapped a two-game losing streak, setting up a huge showdown with the Phoenix Suns Friday night for the top seed in the Western Conference. The Suns currently trail the Jazz by one game.
Utah’s previous record for points in a game was 153, set in 1977-78 when the franchise was in New Orleans.
Bojan Bogdanovic led the Jazz with 24 points, while Jordan Clarkson added 23. The Jazz set another franchise record by making 58.5% of its three-point shots (24 for 41), while shooting 64% from the field overall.
The historic win is even more shocking considering the Jazz struggled offensively in two disappointing losses against Minnesota this past week.
“If we can play the right way and defend,” said head coach Quin Snyder. “That’s how I want to evaluate our group. If we evaluate our group on whether the ball is going in the basket, that has a tendency to make people not want to shoot. We can’t be that team. We’ve got to continue to shoot.”
After taking a 30-27 lead after the first quarter, Utah outscored the Kings 46-17 in the second quarter to take a 32-point lead into the half.
Utah built the lead up to 42 points headed into the fourth quarter.
Georges Niang made five of seven three-pointers, finishing with 19 points in his third career start. Joe Ingles added 13 points and seven assists, while Rudy Gobert scored 12 points and pulled down ten rebounds.
Matt Thomas came alive in the fourth quarter, making all seven of his shots and scored a career high 17 points in just nine minutes of action. Jarrell Brantley tied his career high with 13 points.
“As a shooter and a scorer, it always feels good when the ball is going in the basket,” Thomas said. “Tonight was one of those nights where the basket looked pretty big for me.”
Derrick Favors had eight points and 11 rebounds off the bench.
Utah is still the only team in the NBA that has not lost three games in a row this season.
The Jazz (45-17) next play at Phoenix Friday night at 8:00 p.m.
