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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Mitchell scores 33, Jazz rout Thunder 113-96

Utah’s Derrick Favors and Donovan Mitchell, left, celebrate after Mitchell scored against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second half of Game 4 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series, Monday, April 23, 2018, in Salt Lake City. The Jazz won 113-96. (Rick Bowmer / Associated Press)
Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY – Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 113-96 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.

Joe Ingles scored 20 points while Rudy Gobert added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Ricky Rubio chipped in 13 points, eight assists and six boards. Utah takes a 3-1 series lead back to Oklahoma City. Game 5 is on Wednesday night.

Paul George scored 32 points and Russell Westbrook added 23 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Thunder. Oklahoma City lost its third straight in the series after shooting just 39 percent from the field.

The Thunder opened up a 26-19 lead late in the first quarter when Carmelo Anthony capped a string of three straight Oklahoma City baskets with an alley-oop layup. They held onto the lead for much of the second quarter until Utah finally woke up on offense.

Starting with Rudy Gobert cutting to the rim for a dunk with 3:45 left in the second quarter, the Jazz scored on 11 straight offensive possessions to blow the game wide open. Ingles fueled the surge by hitting three straight 3-pointers to put Utah in front 58-52 before halftime.

It finally culminated in another Gobert dunk that punctuated a 20-3 run extending over the second and third quarters that gave Utah a 67-52 lead. The Jazz led by as many as 21 points in the third quarter. Utah went up 87-68 when Mitchell drained a jumper and then fed Ingles for a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession.