Jazz hand Golden State its worst loss of the season

Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) dunks the ball as Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) looks on in the first half during an NBA basketball game Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

SALT LAKE CITY – On the same night the Jazz debuted its new red rock inspired “City Edition” jerseys, the team picked up what some players have called the biggest victory of the season.

The Jazz’s win Tuesday night wasn’t just good, it was a 30-point-win-against-the-league’s-top-team good. Utah guard Ricky Rubio had a team-high 23 points and 11 assists as the Jazz beat Golden State 129-99, giving the defending NBA champions their largest loss of the season.

“They just outplayed us in probably every aspect of the game,” said Golden State guard Klay Thompson, who scored a game-high 27 points.

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The Jazz shot 58.2 percent, the highest field goal percentage for any team against the Warriors since Steve Kerr became head coach. Forward Joe Ingles and rookie guard Donovan Mitchell scored 20 points each. Jazz Forward Derrick Favors added another 18 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

“We had a great shooting night,” Jazz head coach Quin Snyder said. “They didn’t have the kind of night they can have. Shooting is an equalizer.”

Three early 3-pointers from Ingles helped the Jazz grab the lead early, but that was just part of Utah’s first quarter success from beyond the arc. The Jazz started the game 6-of-8 from 3-point range while the Warriors missed all four first-quarter attempts.

“Joe Ingles set the tone,” Snyder said. “The confidence with which he shot the ball, I thought that helped our other guys shoot the ball.”

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After trailing by 10, Golden State cut the Jazz lead to three early in the second quarter and kept the deficit within single digits through most of the period. Utah had cooled down from deep as well, but only until Ingles’ fourth and fifth treys stretched Utah’s lead back into double digits.

Ingles’ shots were the beginning a 16-4 Utah run that gave the Jazz at 16-point lead seconds before halftime. It peaked when Rubio found Rudy Gobert on a reverse dunk alley-oop. Golden State’s Thompson hit the final shot of the half, a 3-pointer that shortened the Jazz lead to 69-56 at the break.

After missing most of the first half with three fouls, Mitchell came back in to score a game-high 12 points in the third quarter, helping the Jazz extend its lead to 18 by the start of the fourth. It only got more lopsided from there as Utah outrebounded and outscored Golden State through the remainder of the game to secure the team’s third-straight victory.

“Tonight was 48 minutes of focus,” Rubio said, “and it was great.”

Kevin Durant (17) and Stephen Curry (14) were each limited to under 20 points.

At 22-28, still six games under .500, the Jazz will need to keep winning in order to secure a playoff spot.

“We started out with a lot of injuries, but we’ve been coming together,” Gobert said. “We know we can beat anyone in this league, as you can see tonight.”

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