Ace Bailey scored a career-high 32 points and recorded two steals to help the Utah Jazz end a seven-game losing streak with a 122-112 win over the Washington Wizards on Thursday night.
Bailey went 8-for-10 from the field in the first half, scoring 21 points before halftime to give a spark to a short-handed Jazz team. Isaiah Collier tallied 27 points and 11 assists for Utah. Kyle Filipowski added 20 points and 14 rebounds.
Trae Young made his debut for the Wizards after being acquired in a trade with Atlanta in January. MCL and quad injuries have limited Young to just 11 games this season. He finished with 12 points, six assists, and three turnovers in 19 minutes on Thursday night.
Julian Reese led Washington with 18 points and 20 rebounds. Bilal Coulibaly scored 17 points and Leaky Black added 16. Tre Johnson had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Wizards, who suffered their seventh straight loss.
Bailey knocked down a flurry of big baskets for Utah to help his team build a double-digit lead before halftime.
He knocked down back-to-back threes, sparking a 12-2 run that gave the Jazz a 25-16 lead. Utah finished the quarter on a 9-0 spree to boost its advantage to 37-23. Blake Hinson capped the run with a 3-pointer — his third basket of the first quarter.
The Wizards cut the deficit to 41-34 early in the second quarter on back-to-back baskets from Anthony Gill. Utah countered with another 12-2 run, culminating in Bailey’s uncontested dunk off a steal, to extend its lead to 53-36.
The Jazz led by as many as 21 points in the first half, going up 65-44 on Collier’s driving layup with 1:06 left before halftime. Utah shot 56.5% from the field in the first half, hitting nine 3-pointers and outscoring Washington 28-10 in the paint.
Washington reduced the deficit to single digits late in the third quarter and cut it to 117-111 when Coulibaly drove for a layup with 1:23 remaining in the fourth. Collier completed a 3-point play on the next possession, providing Utah with enough of a cushion to stop the Wizards from making a comeback.
