National Basketball Association

Utah Jazz Drop AD, New Orleans Pelicans For Fourth Straight Win

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:57 p.m. ET

Fansided, Ryan Aston/FanSided via Purple and Blues

Led by Joe Johnson, the Utah Jazz moved to 2-0 on the current road swing with a big win over Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans.

During the team’s recent win streak, much has been made of the efforts of Utah Jazz stars Gordon Hayward and Rudy Gobert. It should come as no surprise — Hayward boasted the league’s best player efficiency rating (PER) for the month of February heading into Wednesday night, while Gobert tops the Association in box plus/minus.

But in the Jazz band’s road bout with the New Orleans Pelicans, the team’s new 1-2 punch yielded the floor in favor of some old school funk.

In an effort that hearkened back to his All-Star days with the Atlanta Hawks, 35-year-old Joe Johnson scorched the nets to lead Utah to a 127-94 win in the Big Easy. Iso Joe dropped 27 points on the Pels, hitting 10-of-14 shots and 6-of-8 from three-point range.

Joe Johnson poured in 27 points (10/14 fg, 6/8 3pt) off the bench tonight! ????#TakeNote #UTAatNOP pic.twitter.com/PYiF2iTFyG

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 9, 2017

As a team, the Jazz hit nearly 55 percent of their shots, including 14 three-pointers, while committing just eight turnovers. It was an onslaught Anthony Davis and his team simply couldn’t withstand.

The Jazz pushed their lead to double digits early. Then, after New Orleans briefly cut the deficit to two mid-way through the second quarter, the Jazz put the pedal to the metal, eventually pushing the lead to 39 points.

The icing on the cake — Utah managed it all without having to rely too heavily on their big guns. Neither Hayward, Gobert nor the rest of the starters hit the 30-minute mark in the game.

Hayward finished with 17 points and six boards, while Gobert added 10 points, 16 rebounds and two blocked shots. Meanwhile, George Hill scored 19 points and Derrick Favors hit 5-of-7 shots for 12 points.

Joining Johnson with big games off the bench were Alec Burks, who scored 13 points, and Dante Exum, who finished with 11 points, five assists and three rebounds.

New Orleans was led by Terrence Jones’ 21 points. Davis added 12.