National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Utah 96, Minnesota 80
When: 8:00 PM ET, Monday, April 15, 2013
Where: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Officials: #35 Kane Fitzgerald, #55 Bill Kennedy, #59 Gary Zielinski
Attendance: 17009
Jazz 96, Timberwolves 80: Al Jefferson had 22 points and eight rebounds and visiting Utah defeated Minnesota to move within one game of the Los Angeles Lakers in the battle for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Mo Williams scored 15 points and Randy Foye added 14 as the Jazz beat the Timberwolves for the fourth consecutive time this season. Utah closes the regular season by visiting the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday and holds the tiebreaker edge with the Lakers.

Derrick Williams scored 18 points, Dante Cunningham tallied 12 and J.J. Barea added 11 for the Timberwolves, who have lost four of their last five games.

Minnesota trailed by just three late in the third quarter before Utah finished the stanza with a 10-2 run to take a 71-60 lead. The Timberwolves cut Utah’s lead to nine on Chase Budinger’s basket with 8:26 remaining but Foye scored seven points during a 9-0 surge to give Utah an 86-68 advantage with six minutes to go.

Utah ripped off 16 straight points for an early 16-2 lead. Minnesota pulled within two late in the half before the Jazz recovered and took a 49-41 lead into the break.

GAME NOTEBOOK:
Timberwolves C Nikola Pekovic (calf) missed his third straight game. … Utah has won 11 of the last 13 meetings. … Minnesota was just 2-of-17 from 3-point range with Barea having both of the makes.
Top Game Performances
 
Utah   Minnesota
Al Jefferson 22 Scoring Derrick Williams 18
Mo Williams 7 Assists Jose Juan Barea 5
Al Jefferson 8 Rebounds Greg Stiemsma 8
Al Jefferson 6 Free Throws Made Derrick Williams 4
Mo Williams 4 Steals Luke Ridnour 2
Al Jefferson 2 Blocks Dante Cunningham 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Utah 96 46.8 3-10 21-23 21 41 2 11 10
Minnesota 80 42.7 2-17 14-18 21 38 3 7 12
Upcoming Games
  • Minnesota will play their next game on the road against San Antonio. The Timberwolves have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.
  • Utah will play their next game on the road against Memphis. The Jazz have a W/L % of .000 after a win and .000 after a loss.