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SALT LAKE CITY — Mountain Mike. Mountain Markkanen. Mountain Malik. Purple was back Friday night at Vivint Arena, and so was the mountain mojo of this year's Utah Jazz.
Utah got off to a hot start with a 31-13 lead and held off a furious Phoenix Suns comeback in the second half to win 134-133 and move to 11-6 on the season.
"We've been on a losing streak and we just wanted to try to figure out a way to win it," Mike Conley said. "When it's winning time, you just do whatever it takes."
Lauri Markkanen had a career-high 38 points and hit a crucial shot in the final minute to put the Jazz up and seal the win after the Suns failed to tie with a 3-pointer.
Lauri Markkanen has a career-high 38 points on this Dirk-esque fadeaway that made Vivint Arena absolutely lose its mind. pic.twitter.com/Eb2ZLNr1uH
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) November 19, 2022
"He really came through for us," Jazz head coach Will Hardy said of Markkanen. "Everybody that played in the game contributed. Another very good team win and the energy from the crowd was unbelievable. I've been in a lot of playoff games and it had the audio of a playoff game there coming down the stretch."
The Jazz allowed the Suns to go on an 18-4 run after the hot start to bring it back within single digits, but Utah still led 42-35 after one. Conley paced the Jazz early with 10 points, including a perfect 3-of-3 on 3-point range in the first quarter.
It wasn't just Conley who was hot from deep, though. At one point in the second quarter, the Jazz led the Suns 60-20%, with nine makes on 15 attempts from deep. Malik Beasley started out 4-of-6 from 3-point range as one of four Jazz players in double digits in the first half.
Markkanen led the Jazz with 18 points at the break and Utah held onto a 74-66 lead despite 23 first-half points from Devin Booker. He missed all three of his 3-point attempts, however, and the Suns made just three of their 14 attempts from deep in the first half.
Will Hardy speaks to what allowed the Suns to get back into the game after the first quarter, says it was primarily turnovers in transition. pic.twitter.com/22buchinjx
— Caleb Turner (@calebturner23) November 19, 2022
Booker continued to heat up in the third quarter, dropping 16 in the period — including his first two 3s of the game — to bring Phoenix within two, 107-105, heading into the fourth quarter. Markkanen kept up with the All-Star guard, however, and dropped 16 points in the quarter to reach 34 points.
"My teammates, really," Markkanen said when asked what contributed to his big night. "My teammates passed me the ball when I was open, we ran some off-the-ball stuff and got good looks at the rim."
The Suns continued to bite at the heels of the Jazz early in the fourth quarter and took the lead on a 3-pointer from Damion Lee after a turnover from Kelly Olynyk on a fast break. But the big man brushed it aside and immediately came back to hit a last-second fadeaway to re-take the lead, 122-121, with under seven minutes to go.
The Jazz head to Portland tomorrow to take on the Trail Blazers at 8 p.m. MST on NBA TV.
