Hawks Soar Over Jazz To Easily Take Game 3
May 29th, 2028 | Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT.
NBA Finals | Game 3 | Atlanta Hawks (1-1) @ Utah Jazz (1-1)
ATL | 38 | 20 | 37 | 31 |
126
UTA | 26 | 32 | 25 | 13 |
96
Kristaps Porzingis owned the paint at the Delta Center with 26 points, 16 rebounds, and two blocks.
|
| Name | Points | Reb | Ast | Stl | Blk | TO | FG | 3PT | FT |
| PG Trae Young | 19 | 5 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7/16 | 3/7 | 2/2 |
| SG Dyson Daniels | 11 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4/10 | 3/5 | 0/0 |
| SF Zaccharie Risacher | 19 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8/13 | 2/4 | 1/1 |
| PF Kristaps Porzingis | 26 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11/18 | 2/4 | 2/2 |
| G Onyeka Okongqu | 14 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7/9 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| G Gary Trent Jr. | 11 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3/12 | 2/7 | 3/3 |
| Total | 126 | 50 | 39 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 52/95(55%) | 13/29(45%) | 9/10(90%) |
|
| Name | Points | Reb | Ast | Stl | Blk | TO | FG | 3PT | FT |
| PG Anthony Black | 15 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6/13 | 1/3 | 2/2 |
| SG Dillon Brooks | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2/7 | 1/4 | 0/0 |
| SF Ace Bailey | 31 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 11/24 | 4/10 | 5/6 |
| PF Robert Williams III | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2/5 | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| C Bam Adebayo | 20 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8/12 | 0/0 | 4/6 |
| C Luigi Suigo | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4/8 | 1/3 | 2/2 |
| Total | 96 | 47 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 12 | 37/81(46%) | 9/26(31%) | 14/22(64%) |
Salt Lake City, UT. - The Utah Jazz hoped their return to the Delta Center would spark a resurgence with their depleted roster missing Keyonte George, Cam Thomas, and Cameron Boozer.
Instead, they suffered their worst defeat of the entire playoff run—a humiliating 126-96 loss that exposed every weakness in their lineup.
Atlanta came out scorching, building a 12-point lead after the first quarter. But the Jazz fought back, propelled by 15 second-quarter points from Ace Bailey. Utah clawed back to tie the game at 68 heading into halftime, giving the home crowd a glimmer of hope.
That hope evaporated quickly.
The Hawks opened the third quarter with a devastating 16-5 run, reestablishing their 12-point lead. With Atlanta's defense keying relentlessly on Bailey, the Jazz desperately needed secondary scoring. None came. Utah managed just 13 points in the fourth quarter as the Hawks methodically pulled away.
Despite finishing as the game's leading scorer with 31 points, Bailey was visibly frustrated with his own performance and his team's effort level.
"We did everything wrong tonight," Bailey said, referencing his 11-for-24 shooting line. "Got outshot, outrebounded, outworked. They were the better team with better effort. That's on us. We have to be significantly better going forward."
Mazzulla echoed Bailey's assessment without sugarcoating the performance.
"Ace said it perfectly," the head coach said. "We came back from that first-quarter hole, but after that? We didn't execute on either end. Not one positive to build on except for that second-quarter push. We're in a critical spot now."
Game 4 tips off in Salt Lake City on Thursday night with the Jazz facing the very real possibility of falling into a 3-1 hole.
For Utah to avoid that fate they'll need either another historic Bailey performance or finally get meaningful contributions from their role players. Without George and Thomas, the burden has fallen entirely on Bailey's shoulders.
If the Jazz can't find additional scoring and tighten their defense, the Finals will return to Atlanta for a potential clinching Game 5.
The Jazz's championship window is rapidly closing.
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