National Basketball Association
Utah 84, Milwaukee 81
When: 9:00 PM ET, Friday, February 5, 2016
Where: Vivint Smart Home Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah
Officials: #36 David Jones, #13 Monty McCutchen, #72 J.T. Orr
Attendance: 19911

SALT LAKE CITY -- The longest homestand of the season was good while it lasted for the Utah Jazz.

Guard Rodney Hood scored 23 points, forward Derrick Favors had another big game, and the Jazz extended their winning streak to five straight with an 84-81 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night.

Hood, the second-year Jazz player, continued his strong 2016 by hitting nine of 18 shots to help Utah improve to 24-25 and finish off the longest homestand of the season with a 5-1 mark.

"It's great just to win five in a row and five out of six at home," said Hood, whose team lost to Detroit to open the homestand before closing it out with five in a row. "We are close to the (All-Star) break. We have three more road games. Hopefully, we can pull out some more wins as we enter the break."

Favors struggled from the field by hitting only four of 15 shots, but Utah's starting power forward finished with 11 points, 15 rebounds, five blocked shots and two steals while playing an instrumental role in this win.

Small forward Gordon Hayward scored 18 points, including several key buckets late in the fourth quarter, and center Rudy Gobert contributed 15 points, eight rebounds and three swats for Utah.

"I think we are an offensive juggernaut," said Jazz coach Quin Snyder, whose team beat Denver 85-81 on Wednesday night. "We've scored over 80 for two straight games. We missed some shots. Some of our key guys didn't have a good night. We've been pretty consistent offensively all year. A couple of tough games."

A couple of wins, too, despite the Jazz shooting only 39 percent on Friday.

Guard Khris Middleton topped the Bucks scorers with 18 points, guard Jerryd Bayless had five first-half 3-pointers for 15 points, and center Greg Monroe and forward Giannis Antetokounmpo each contributed 14 points.

This was Milwaukee's 14th straight loss in Utah. The Bucks dropped to 20-32.

"I thought the energy and the effort everyone pitched in," said Bucks coach Jason Kidd, whose team has lost five straight. "Everyone participating put us in a position to tie or win the ball game, and we just came up short."

Hayward put the Jazz up 70-66 with a 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter. Utah stretched that lead to 83-75 with 51 seconds remaining before the Bucks made one final push.

Middleton hit three free throws and then made a 3-pointer after a free throw by Jazz guard Raul Neto, cutting Utah's lead to 84-81.

Favors then had a bad pass picked off by Middleton who then missed his game-tying 3-point attempt with two seconds remaining.

College basketball fans might've been surprised by the outcome of the battle of former Duke players, Utah's Hood and Bucks forward Jabari Parker. While Hood, the 23rd pick of the 2014 draft, had another 20-point-plus night, his old teammate only scored two points in a quiet night.

"Nah, I mean, I'm just happy to see Jabari out there playing. I know it was tough for him to get injured last season," said Hood of Parker, who missed most of last season after going down with a surgery-requiring knee injury. "To see him out there playing means a lot. He's like a brother to me. Anytime you get to see him, you want to see him do well.

Bucks center Miles Plumlee was ejected in the third quarter after smacking Jazz small forward Joe Ingles in the back of the head with his forearm. Referees reviewed the play and determined Plumlee's hard foul was a Flagrant Penalty-2 violation.

"It's tough. I was feeling good," Plumlee said. "I felt like I was helping out. I was a little surprised. I don't know. It looked worse on film."

The Jazz were without point guard Trey Burke for the second half because of flulike symptoms.

Utah hits the road for the next three games before the All-Star break, beginning Saturday night in Phoenix. Milwaukee, loser of five straight, has a few days off before hosting Boston on Tuesday.

NOTES: The Jazz found out from the NBA on Friday that the game that as postponed because of severe weather two weeks ago in Washington was rescheduled for Feb. 18. Utah will fly back across two time zones to play the Celtics at home on Feb. 19. The Wizards now have a back-to-back-to-back, as they were already scheduled to play on Feb. 19 at home and Feb. 20 in Miami. ... Bucks G Khris Middleton was selected to participate in the 3-point contest during All-Star Weekend. ... These two teams will have a combined four players in the Rising Stars Challenge: F Jabari Parker (Bucks) and G Rodney Hood, G Raul Neto and F Trey Lyles (Utah). ... The Jazz signed point guard Erick Green to a second 10-day contract. Green only played briefly in two appearances with the Jazz in his first 10-day deal. The point guard was just named as the D-League's player of the month for January.
Top Game Performances
 
Milwaukee   Utah
Khris Middleton 18 Scoring Rodney Hood 23
Michael Carter-Williams 4 Assists Raul Neto 4
Greg Monroe 9 Rebounds Derrick Favors 15
Giannis Antetokounmpo 5 Free Throws Made Derrick Favors 3
Michael Carter-Williams 3 Steals Rudy Gobert 5
Miles Plumlee 3 Blocks Derrick Favors 5
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Milwaukee 81 42.3 7-14 14-21 9 41 7 12 20
Utah 84 39.0 8-27 16-23 13 45 8 15 17
Upcoming Games
  • Utah will play their next game on the road against Phoenix. The Jazz have a W/L % of .458 after a win and .520 after a loss.
  • Milwaukee will play their next game at home against Boston. The Bucks have a W/L % of .400 after a win and .375 after a loss.