SALT LAKE CITY — Guard Alec Burks scored 20 points and collected a career-high 14 rebounds while center Enes Kanter chipped in 16 points and 15 boards to help the Utah Jazz rally for a 98-81 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night.
Guard Trey Burke added 17 points and nine assists for Utah (5-7), helping the Jazz rally from a 17 point second quarter deficit. The Jazz shot 51.1 percent from the field (23-of-45) in the second half after struggling to find any sort of offensive rhythm for much of the first half.
Guard Jeremy Lamb had 19 points to lead the Thunder (3-9), who lost for the sixth time in seven road games this season. Oklahoma City played short-handed with six players sitting out because of injuries.
Nothing went right on offense for the Jazz in the first quarter. Utah shot just 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) from the floor and never led at any point during the quarter. The Jazz set a season low for first quarter points, scoring just 14, and were held without a field goal over a 4 1/2 minute stretch during the quarter.
It helped Oklahoma City carve out a large lead despite its own offensive struggles. The Thunder were 9-of-23 (39.1 percent) from the floor, but jumped out to a 23-12 lead with 1:07 left in the quarter when reserve center Kendrick Perkins dunked the ball to cap an 8-1 spurt.
Oklahoma City led by as many as 17 points early in the second quarter, going up 39-22 on a basket from center Steven Adams with 6:03 left before halftime. The Jazz finally came to life on both ends of the court over the remaining six minutes.
Utah hit 9-of-10 free throws over a four minute stretch to cut the deficit to single digits. Then, center Enes Kanter, made a pair of baskets and a pair of free throws in the final minute of the quarter to bring the Jazz within a basket.
Oklahoma City made just one basket over the final 6:03, allowing Utah to close the half on a 18-3 run and make it 42-40 at halftime.
The Jazz got over the hump midway through the third quarter, taking their first lead at 53-52 on a layup from Hayward. Utah put some distance between itself and Oklahoma City heading into the fourth quarter. Starting with a dunk from Rudy Gobert to break a 57-57 tie, the Jazz went on a 23-4 run over a six minute stretch spanning the third and fourth quarter.
Dante Exum capped the decisive spurt with back-to-back 3-pointers, giving Utah a 80-61 lead with 9:21 remaining.
NOTES: Utah went 1-3 vs. Oklahoma City last season. In the team’s lone win over the Thunder on January 7, 2014, Jazz F Gordon Hayward recorded a career-high 37 points and added 11 rebounds and seven assists. … Thunder F Serge Ibaka has become a greater deep threat this season. Entering the Jazz game, Ibaka made 20 3-pointers in 11 games after making only 25 during the 2013-14 season. … Tuesday’s game marks the start of Oklahoma City’s fourth back-to-back stretch in three weeks. All eight games have been road contests. … Utah is currently the only NBA team playing three rookies more than 14 minutes per game this season — Dante Exum (18.9 minutes), Joe Ingles (15.5) and Rodney Hood (15.2).