OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Donovan Mitchell hit a go-ahead layup with 7 seconds left and finished with 20 points, lifting the Utah Jazz over the Oklahoma City Thunder 110-109 on Monday night.
Bojan Bogdanovich scored 23 points and Mike Conley added 20 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for the Jazz, who ended a 17-game losing streak in regular season road games against the Thunder, including games in the NBA's Orlando bubble last season. Utah's last win in Oklahoma City came on Oct. 31, 2010.
“We tightened it up down the stretch,” Utah coach Quin Snyder said. “You have to get stops to win. They played hard. I don't feel like we played our best, but that's the challenge, to figure out how to win when you don't have your best game. We hope we can take this and build on it and keep getting better.”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who hit a game-winning shot in the Thunder's season-opening win in Charlotte, missed a driving layup in heavy traffic at the buzzer. He had 23 points and seven assists, while Luguentz Dort led the Thunder with a career-high 26 points.
“We had a shot there at the end, which is all you can ask for,” said the Thunder's Al Horford, who scored 11 pints. “There was a lot of positive. It was just too bad we couldn't finish the game.”
An 8-0 run by Oklahoma City to start the fourth quarter put the Thunder up 95-86, and they led 100-93 after a drive by Darius Bazley with 7:32 left. Utah answered with 11 straight points — the final six by Mitchell — to go ahead 102-100 with 5:10 left.
Dort's 3-pointer with 1:05 left gave Oklahoma City a 109-108 lead. Both teams traded empty possessions before Mitchell's game-winning basket. Mitchell scored the Jazz's final 12 points.
As the game progressed, “I thought Donovan did a better of job of trying to set up and get help, using screens and pick and roll and kind of take what they give you,” Snyder said. “That's the idea, to get better as the game goes on.”
The Thunder hit their first five shots — including four 3-pointers — to go ahead 17-5 and held that lead for most of the first half, taking a 52-49 advantage into halftime. Mitchell and Bogdanovic were a combined 4 of 19 from the field in the half.
After eight lead changes in the third quarter, Oklahoma City led 87-84.
Utah was Oklahoma City's scheduled opponent on March 11, when the Jazz's Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. The game was postponed moments before tipoff and the NBA season was temporarily shut down.
TIP-INS:
Jazz: With 12 points and 10 rebounds, Gobert recorded his 250th double-double for the Jazz, a total that ranks third in franchise history behind only Karl Malone (799) and John Stockton (714). ... Bogdanovic received a technical foul after a follow dunk by teammate Jordan Clarkson in the second quarter. ... Gobert also was slapped with a technical early in the third quarter for complaining that no foul was called as he scored a basket.
Thunder: Oklahoma City went with the same starters as it did in its opener — Dort, Bazley, Horford, Gilgeous-Alexander and George Hill. ... For the second straight game, first-round draft pick Aleksej Pokusevski did not score (in 14 minutes) for Oklahoma City.
UP NEXT
Jazz: Will have back-to-back games in Salt Lake City, hosting the Phoenix Suns on Thursday and the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday before playing seven straight games on the road.
Thunder: Continue a stretch of three home games in four nights, hosting the Orlando Magic on Tuesday and the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday.
