Gordon Hayward helped the Utah Jazz stop a three-game losing skid by scoring a combined 59 points in two wins over the weekend.

G-time scored a season-high 34 points as the Jazz beat the Miami Heat (22-15) 98-83 Saturday at home. The Jazz followed that win when Gordon dropped 25 points to give Utah a 86-74 win at the Los Angeles Lakers (8-31) to snap a seven-game road losing streak.

“Once I saw a couple go in, the basket opened up and I was able to get some more,” Gordon said. “I knew I needed to be aggressive throughout the game. I was turning the ball over so much [early], I might as well throw it at the rim. Would’ve been better than giving them the ball. Just an aggressive mindset.”

Miami Heat v Utah Jazz

Gordon began his season-best night against the Heat, which included four rebounds and an assist, with a dunk set up by a behind-the-back pass from Rudy Gobert to take a 6-4 lead. The Heat took a six-point lead with under five minutes to play in the first quarter, but G-Time hit a layup to pull the Jazz closer to the lead, down just 17-13.

Miami continued to pull away in the first quarter, but No. 20 knocked down a six-foot jump shot to cut the deficit to 27-19. As G-Time mentioned with lament afterward, he coughed up four turnovers in the first quarter—so he spent the remainder of the game making up for those miscues.

The Heat held a lead throughout the second quarter, but Raul Neto found No. 20 wide open for a three-pointer that he hit with ease right in front of the Jazz bench to pull his squad within three points late in the second quarter. At halftime, Utah trailed just 49-45.

No. 20 opened the third quarter by hitting a 21-foot two-point shot over the outstretched arm of Miami’s Chris Bosh to keep the Heat lead at four. With 9:47 left in the quarter, Gordon circled from the three-point arc to the basket and back to the three-point line, where he took a handoff from Gobert and drained a triple to give the Jazz a 54-53 lead.

Midway through the third quarter, G-time scored nine consecutive points, which included four two-point shots, without any other player on the floor scoring. This gave the Jazz a 68-60 lead. The Heat caught up before the end of the third quarter, but Gordon knocked down a stepback jumper and slammed down a baseline dunk to add to the lead and give Utah a 72-68 advantage going into the fourth quarter.

“Hayward really got it going and they read our schemes and what we were doing defensively,” Heat guard Dwyane Wade said, “and they did a great job getting the things they needed from our schemes.”

Needing a basket to build a comfortable lead late, Chris Johnson found No. 20 streaking down the court on a fastbreak and Gordon finished it with a layup to take an 86-78 lead with 5:37 left to play. Gordon added one last dunk with 1:06 remaining to officially put the game out of reach.

“We just hit some shots,” Gordon said. “Honestly, I’m tired. We needed this win. The fans were tremendous for us tonight, and we really appreciate it. We couldn’t do it without them, especially with the way we’ve been beat up lately. It was a great win.”

Utah didn’t miss a step when it traveled to take on the Lakers. For the second consecutive night, Gordon found some energy and led all players in scoring. He also added two rebounds, two assists and three blocks.

“I think we stuck to our principles,” Gordon said. “We kind of played the personnel pretty well. We knew who was a driver, who was a shooter, and there weren’t that many breakdowns through the whole game.”

Gordon started his scoring by driving down the left side of the lane and rising over two defenders to knock down a 10-foot jumper off an assist from Trey Lyles. With just under nine minutes remaining in the first quarter, G-Time hit a driving layup to put the Jazz ahead 6-2.

After a low-scoring first quarter, Utah led 15-14. The Jazz pulled away in the second quarter, as Gordon connected on another layup with 4:58 left in the quarter to push the Jazz lead to 35-23. With 1:54 remaining in the second quarter, No. 20 found the basket again, driving through contact and knocking down an 11-foot shot. He also made the free throw that followed, as the Jazz lead grew to 43-25.

“We’ve been talking about Gordon stepping up and evolving as a player,” Utah head coach Quin Snyder said. “I think you saw it tonight — part of that evolution late in the game. The game was physical. But I think he’s learning to play through contact, and that’s a big thing. I think Gordon’s learning more and more how to use his physicality.”

Utah Jazz v Los Angeles Lakers

Gordon kept it going in the third quarter, starting with a trifecta from 24 feet out to push the Utah lead to 13, 48-35. On the next Jazz possession, Neto passed the ball from under the hoop to Gordon who was at waiting at the 3-point line. Before Lakers defenders could turn around to see where the ball went, G-Time was hanging from the rim after throwing down a dunk. That slam came through contact, and Gordon again finished the three-point play at the line.

With 7:46 on the clock, Gordon sunk an eight-footer to extend the Jazz lead to 55-42. But L.A. chipped its way back, and at the end of the third quarter, Utah led by 11 points, up 61-50.
With the Lakers desperately trying to string together a comeback, Gordon put an end to those hopes by rising for a 15-footer shot to put the Jazz back ahead by 13 points. The lead was insurmountable for the Lakers, and the Jazz held on for an eight-point victory.

“It definitely wasn’t pretty . . . our fourth game in five nights, on the road, a back-to-back,�? Gordon admitted. “We’re just happy to find a way to win. We played well defensively and were able to score enough points to beat them.�?

The road win was the first for the Jazz since beating the Clippers in Los Angeles in November—also at the Staples Center, and also behind a big effort from No. 20. The Jazz have been riddled with injuries as of late. Gordon was proud of the way he and his team responded over the last two games despite being shorthanded.

“One of my favorite parts of the game is quieting the crowd,�? Gordon said. “We’ve had a lot of adversity recently with this team recently, so I was just proud of the way we fought battled and got the win.�?

NEXT UP

The Jazz (17-20) continue a west-coast road trip to take on the Portland Trail Blazers (16-24) Wednesday at 8 p.m. MT.

The two teams have met twice this season, both times in Utah. When the Jazz and Trail Blazers met in one of the first games of the season, the Jazz lost 108-92. When the two teams met more recently on New Year’s Eve, Utah won 109-96.