Utah Jazz

Gordon Hayward, Jazz Run Streak to 7

Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

DALLAS, TX — For much of Tuesday’s game between the Utah Jazz and Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center, it appeared the home team would cruise to an easy win.

Dallas, who had won 10 straight at home against Utah, led by as many as 15 and even in the fourth quarter, it appeared like the Jazz’s six-game winning streak would end on Victory Avenue.

However, Rodney Hood, who led all scorers with 29, and Gordon Hayward, who finished with 20 but clearly saved his best for last, had other ideas.

Hood drained a three-pointer late in regulation to force overtime and in the extra frame, it was Hayward who delivered the game-winner just as the buzzer sounded with a step back on Mavs big man Zaza Pachulia to seal a 121-119 overtime win.

The Jazz had led by as many as four in the fourth quarter only to see Dallas rally and presumably have the win sewn up late, all of which makes this win even sweeter for Jazz head coach Quin Snyder.

“Having been down the whole game, you feel like once you get a lead and lose it, it’s a little demoralizing, especially the way we lost it, but it’s a credit to our guys,” Snyder said.

One reason Dallas got off to such a strong start was that they practically couldn’t miss from long range. In fact, the Mavs didn’t hit their first two-point basket of the game until early in the second quarter.

However, that hot streak from downtown didn’t extend into the second half, but Dallas still mustered enough offense to build enough of a lead that this one looked all but academic until late in the fourth.

But the tenacious Jazz never quit on a night when Hayward struggled for just seven points in the first half and in the end, Snyder and company were richly rewarded for just hanging around.

“I think we’re learning more and more how to make winning plays. Sometimes you make them, and it works out. Sometimes you make them, and they’re unsuccessful, but the key to me is we’re making the right plays,” Snyder said.

But Hayward caught fire in crunch time, scoring 13 in the second half and overtime combined, and as for the shot that won it, extending the Jazz’s streak while ending the Mavs’ recent run of dominance over them at AAC, it went exactly as drawn up.

“Gordon made the right play, and he made the shot. The resolve that he had to get the ball and create that shot was terrific,” Snyder said.

And that final shot, along with the one by Hood to force the extra frame, summed up the Jazz’s never-say-die attitude in Big D, a winning mentality that the rest of the NBA is quickly becoming well acquainted with.

“We have a fight in us. It seems like every time we come here, they punch us in the mouth early. Today we didn’t let it get to 20 or 30, which sometimes has happened in the past. We just kept hanging around, hanging around, hit some big shots and gave ourselves a chance to win at the end, which is all you can ask on the road,” Hayward said.

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