Hot shooting Utah Jazz hold off Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans

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The Utah Jazz continue to roll, blowing by the New Orleans Pelicans to claim their sixth straight win.

The 118-102 final moved the Jazz into a tie with the Los Angeles Clippers at 10-4 on the season, just a half game back of the Los Angeles Lakers at the top of the Western Conference. 

Outscoring the Pelicans 36-20 in the third, the game was never truly in doubt down the stretch, with the Pelicans now slumping to a disappointing 5-8 record.

Utah continue to scorch the nets

As per usual, Quin Snyder has the ball zipping around the perimeter on offence in Utah.

Taking full advantage of New Orleans' defensive lapses, the Jazz tore the Pelicans to shreds from the outside in connecting on 21 long range bombs. 

The returning Joe Ingles was the chief destroyer, finishing 5-for-6 from the outside in a 15-point performance off the bench.

The 44.7 percent mark from beyond the arc was impressive, but truth be told it's not too far above the season average. Utah rank fourth in the NBA for team 3-point percentage, hitting on 40.1 percent of their attempts so far this season. 

Donovan Mitchell (4-for-8), Jordan Clarkson (4-for-9) and Bojan Bogdanovic (3-for-8) joined Ingles in giving Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy all kinds of headaches throughout.

Mitchell finds his efficiency

Shooting just 41.9 percent from the field entering the game against New Orleans, Mitchell has began to turn the corner when it comes to his scoring efficiency early in the 2021 season.

Failing to reach 50 percent in his first eight appearances, his 9-for-15 effort against the Pelicans marked the fifth time in the last six games he done so. 

The All-Star guard scored on all three levels in this one, finishing 5-for-8 from 2-point range and 4-for-7 from deep, while also hitting all six of his attempts from the free-throw line. 

It's hardly a surprise the efficient burst has resulted in the Jazz ripping off a long winning streak, with the franchise's hopes of contending resting heavily on the 24 year old's ability to play at a superstar level.

Zion's big night goes to waste

An equal season-high 32 points from Zion provided the usual highlight finishes around the basket, but ultimately had little impact on the result of the game.

Finishing 14-for-19 from the field Williamson continually probed the Utah defence, taking the ball directly at Rudy Gobert for multiple tough finishes.

  Points FGM-FGA FG%
Zion 32 14-19 73.6
The rest 70 29-76 38.1

With Brandon Ingram struggling to tally just 17 points on 18 shots, the Pelicans offence outside of Zion sputtered, with no other player able to reach double-digit scoring. 

The Pelicans have now slumped to 18th in the league for offensive efficiency, while the defence sits even further down the list at 21. 

It's been a tough start for the Pelicans in 2021 to say the least.

What's next?

New Orleans won't have to wait long for their chance at redemption, as these two teams will square off again in Utah after a rest day.

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