Rookie Keyonte George scored a season-high 19 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 114-112 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night and a sweep of their two-game series .
Jordan Clarkson had 16 points and 10 assists for the Jazz. Walker Kessler added 14 points and eight rebounds coming off the bench. Simone Fontecchio scored 14 points.
Utah beat New Orleans for the fifth straight time and second time in three days after making 17 3-pointers, including six in the fourth quarter. The Jazz moved the ball well, finishing with 31 assists on 37 baskets.
“It was just us moving the ball instead of trying to play for each other,” Clarkson said. “Sometimes the game is just swinging it. Sometimes it gives us a chance to take the next action. The next guy makes the play for someone else. It’s the most important thing for us and when everyone touches the ball, it feels good.
Zion Williamson scored 26 points for New Orleans, which lost despite shooting 50 percent from the field. Williamson, who did not play in the Pelicans’ 105-100 loss Saturday, shot 9 of 16 from the field and added seven assists.
Brandon Ingram scored 25 points. Jonas Valanciunas had 14 points and 13 rebounds. Naji Marshall added 14 points and nine rebounds coming off the bench.
New Orleans outscored Utah 68-38 in the paint, but the Jazz had a 48-43 advantage on the glass and a 20-9 advantage in second-chance points.
“I thought we did enough to win the game, but they made more plays and got those 50-50 balls,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said.
Utah opened the fourth quarter on a 10-3 run fueled by a pair of 3-pointers from Ochai Agbaji and took a 98-91 lead. The Pelicans tied it at 103 on back-to-back baskets from Ingram midway through the quarter. Clarkson responded with back-to-back baskets at the other end to put the Jazz back in front for good.
George’s pullup 3 gave Utah a 114-107 lead with 2:42 left. The Pelicans cut the lead to two on a 3-pointer by Herbert Jones with 1:14 left, but missed all three of their field goal attempts in the final minute.
“We had a good look,” Williamson said. “We definitely got the look we wanted, some shots just didn’t come together. This happens sometimes.
Utah never trailed in the first half after hitting six 3-pointers in the opening quarter to take a 32-22 lead.
New Orleans erased the deficit at the end of the second quarter with an 11-3 run. Marshall made three baskets in two minutes to provide the initial spark. Williamson threw down a second-chance dunk to punctuate the surge and tie the game at 53.
The Pelicans finally took their first lead at 59-57 on a Valanciunas dunk a minute into the third quarter.
Fontecchio and Omer Yurtseven made their second straight starts for Utah with Lauri Markkanen sidelined with a hamstring injury. Yurtseven pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds while Fontecchio made a few key defensive stops late in the game.
Utah is now 2-0 after inserting the duo into the starting lineup in Markkanen’s absence. Before the change was made, both players were averaging less than 15 minutes per game in limited roles.
“My intention was not to send a message,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “My intention was to put people on the field who I thought were going to give us the best chance of winning. We’ve seen enough play this year to know how we played at the start of the year. This was not meant to punish anyone. It wasn’t meant to prove anything.
FOLLOWING
Pelicans: Host Philadelphia on Wednesday.
Jazz: Visit Memphis on Wednesday.
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