Late Layup By Timberwolves Hands Jazz Second Straight Loss
Apr 26, 2021, 8:35 PM | Updated: 8:42 pm
Josh Okogie #20 of the Minnesota Timberwolves defends against Mike Conley #10 of the Utah Jazz during the second quarter of the game at Target Center on April 26, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
(Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Minnesota Timberwolves guard D’Angelo Russell made the go-ahead layup with four seconds left to beat the Jazz 105-104.
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It’s the second straight loss for the Jazz against the Timberwolves. Mike Conley hit a three-pointer to take a one-point lead with five seconds left. Then Utah had a miscommunication defensively and allowed a wide open layup for Russell.
Conley turned the ball over when the Jazz had a chance to win the game.
The @Timberwolves get a layup on a horrendous defensive miscommunication by Rudy Gobert who abandons D'Angelo Russell for a wide open basket.
Jazz down 1 with 4.2 seconds left. #TakeNotepic.twitter.com/zeRP7K2Qow
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) April 27, 2021
Conley led the Jazz with 26 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Rudy Gobert added 18 points, 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. Georges Niang scored 14 points off the bench.
For Minnesota, Russell had 27 points and 12 assists off the bench. Karl Anthony-Towns notched a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Jazz Get Hot In First Quarter, Timberwolves Counter In Second Quarter
The momentum in the first half changed sides at the end of the first quarter. Utah outscored Minnesota 33-17 in the opening period and had an 18-point lead at one point in the quarter. Nine players played in the first 12 minutes with eight of them scoring. Joe Ingles had nine points with three three-pointers and Royce O’Neale knocked down a pair of triples.
The Timberwolves put the clamps down on defense in the second quarter by outscoring the Jazz 32-14 and took a 49-47 lead. D’Angelo Russell went off in the second quarter, scoring 15 of his 18 first half points. Ersan Ilyasova had five points in the second for the Jazz and he led the team. They shot just 19 percent from the floor on 5-of-26 shooting.
Two Timberwolves scored in double figures in the first half, including 18 from Russell and Juancho Hernangomez dropped 12, both came off the bench. The Jazz didn’t have any players reach double figures in the first half.
Utah shot a franchise record 33 three-pointers in the first half. They only made eight of them.
The @utahjazz let an 18 point lead turn into a 2 point deficit at the half against the @Timberwolves.
They trail 49-47 after scoring just 14 points in the second half.
Deja vu from Saturday night. #takenote pic.twitter.com/3RGrGWgVFP
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) April 27, 2021
Jazz Late Comeback Falls Short Against Timberwolves
The first five minutes of the third quarter was a back-and-forth affair but the Timberwolves started pulling away with about six minutes left. Karl Anthony-Towns hit a three-pointer and later on received an alley-oop from Russell to put Minnesota ahead by eight points with under five minutes left in the third.
Utah went over four minutes without a field goal and managed to only trail by six points when they finally made a shot. The defense just wasn’t there for the Jazz in the third quarter, allowing 34 points. Their offense wasn’t great either, scoring just 23 points on 8-of-22 shooting from the floor and 1-for-10 from the three-point line. The Timberwolves had an 83-70 lead entering the fourth quarter.
It was looking like the Timberwolves were going to blow this game open but Georges Niang came in and made four three-pointers in the fourth quarter and the game was tied at 97 before Minnesota went on a 5-0 run with 1:38 left.
The Jazz were down by four when Mike Conley threw an alley-oop to Rudy Gobert, making it a two-point game. Anthony-Towns made just one of two free throws and Conley went to the line after Minnesota fouled up by three. Conley made one and missed the second but the Timberwolves stepped out of bounds on the rebound. With 8 seconds left, Conley hit a three-pointer to give the Jazz a one-point lead with 5.9 left in the game.
On the inbounds pass, the Jazz miscommunicated and left Russell alone for a wide open layup to give them the lead back with 4.2 seconds remaining. Ingles inbounded the ball and Conley turned the ball over on a double team by Ricky Rubio and Karl Anthony-Towns.
— utahjazz (@utahjazz) April 27, 2021
The Jazz dropped their record to 44-16 on the season. They will make their second stop on this three-game road trip in Sacramento to face the Kings on Wednesday, April 28 at 8 p.m. MDT on AT&T SportsNet.
