NBA: Mitchell 19, Crowder 18 help Jazz to take over Wizards

Rudy Gobert had 14 points and 14 rebounds and the visiting Utah Jazz beat the Washington Wizards 116-95 on Monday night. Gobert, the reigning Western Conference Player of the Week, was 6 of 6 from the field and made 2 of 3 free throws.

Donovan Mitchell scored 19 points and Jae Crowder added 18 for the Jazz, who began the night in seventh place, one-half game behind San Antonio. Ricky Rubio had 10 assists. Jabari Parker led Washington with 19 points and Bradley Beal, the Eastern Conference Player of the Week, added 15 on 4-of-12 shooting.

The 11th-place Wizards began the night 3 1/2 games behind the eighth-place Miami Heat. Washington, which finished its homestand 3-2, was coming off a 135-128 win against Memphis on Saturday.

The Jazz shot 53.8 per cent from the field while the Wizards converted 42 per cent. Joe Ingles (16 points) hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Jazz a 31-22 lead late in the first quarter.

The Wizards got to within 45-41 on Beal's jumper with 5:28 left in the first half, but Mitchell responded with a 3-pointer to keep the Jazz out front. Parker pulled the Wizards within 48-45 before the Jazz scored nine straight points including two buckets from Crowder and led 57-45 at halftime. Washington's Trevor Ariza led all scorers with 12 points in the half while Beal had five points. Ingles had 11 first-half points for Utah.

The Jazz extended the lead to 17 points midway through the third quarter on baskets by Gobert and Crowder. Moments later Mitchell's alley-oop dunk made it 79-60 with 5:39 left in the third quarter. Utah led by as many as 24 points in the third quarter before taking a 91-71 lead into the fourth.

The Wizards got to within 17 points early in the fourth quarter, but an 8-0 run capped by Gobert's dunk with 7:29 left pushed the Jazz lead up to 25 midway through the fourth quarter.