Salt Lake City, UT (Sports Network) - Jonny Flynn’s driving layup through three Utah defenders proved to be the difference, and the Minnesota Timberwolves stopped the Jazz’s seven-game home win streak with a 110-108 win at EnergySolutions Arena.
Jonny On The Spot: Flynn Leads T’Wolves To 110-108 Win Over Jazz
Flynn finished with a career-best 28 points for the T’Wolves, who have solved the Jazz twice this season to account for half of their wins this season. Al Jefferson added 23 points and 12 boards, while Corey Brewer contributed 22 points in the win.
“It was a great win. You see the enthusiasm from everybody on the court,” Flynn said. “To get a win in an environment like this -- Utah has rowdy fans, love their team and home court advantage out the roof. To come in here in this environment, to get a win against a playoff team, it’s a good win for us.”
Kevin Love scored 11 points and hauled in 14 points for the victors, who had lost four straight.
Deron Williams had a season-high 38 points and 13 assists for the Jazz, who had just ended the defending champion Lakers’ 11-game winning streak in their previous game.
“(Minnesota) could have beaten a lot of teams tonight,” said Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan. “They played us just as tough (in Minnesota). I saw some of the very same things they did to us there that happened tonight.”
Carlos Boozer provided 14 points and as many rebounds, while Mehmet Okur and Paul Millsap each had 13 points in defeat.
Minnesota led by six to start the fourth quarter, until a 9-4 run by Utah cut the Jazz’s deficit to 101-100 on a pair of free throws by Ronnie Brewer with 5 1/2 minutes left.
Williams drilled a deep jumper with 3:45 to play to give Utah its first lead since early in the third, 104-103. The lead remained at one after both teams traded a basket, and Jefferson hit a jumper with 1:13 to play to put Minnesota back in front, 107-106.
The Jazz and T’Wolves both misfired on their next possession, and Boozer committed an offensive foul -- his sixth foul -- with 26.7 seconds left to hand the ball back to Minnesota.
Flynn hit 1-of-2 free throws a second later for a 108-106 game, and Okur missed a three. Millsap, though, got the offensive rebound, and Williams found a wide-open Andrei Kirilenko under the basket for an easy slam and a tie game with 16.5 ticks on the clock.
Flynn responded with a driving layup through three Jazz defenders, clearly beating Williams with three seconds left to put the Wolves back in front, and Williams’ potential game-winning three-pointer bounced off the rim to end the contest.
Minnesota jumped out to an early 12-4 lead, but Utah rallied with three consecutive three-pointers -- two from Okur -- to take a 21-19 lead. The Jazz took a 33-30 advantage to the second quarter.
Utah grabbed an 11-point lead, 48-37, after a personal 9-0 run by Williams early in the second. Minnesota managed to cut its deficit to 65-61 at halftime.
The T’Wolves put together an 8-0 burst early in the third quarter to surge in front, 74-71, on a Flynn jumper with 6 1/2 minutes left. Utah trailed for the remainder of the quarter, as a Ramon Sessions layup in the final moments put the visitors in front, 88-82, entering the fourth.
The T’Wolves improved to just 2-12 on the road, while the Jazz are 11-4 at home this season...Minnesota won for the second straight time in Utah after losing the previous six as the guest in this series...The Jazz still hold a commanding 57-30 lead in the all-time series...The T’Wolves outrebounded Utah, 48-36, including a 14-7 advantage on offensive rebounds.
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