PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Gordon Hayward’s return to the lineup just might make Utah a factor in the Western Conference.
Derrick Favors had 16 points and 14 rebounds and Rodney Hood scored 18 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 109-84 victory over the winless Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night.
Hayward scored 20 points in the second game of his return since he broke his right ring finger in training camp. He led the team in scoring last season, averaging nearly 20 points per game.
“That’s one of the better teams, I think, in the West,” 76ers coach Brett Brown said.
The Jazz won their second straight game on the road and cruised against a Sixers team again mired at the bottom of the NBA standings. The Sixers have lost 43 straight games in October and November. The Sixers last won a game in either of those two months on Nov. 22, 2013, against Milwaukee.
The Sixers are 0-6 for the third straight season and have lost 10 straight dating to last season.
Jahlil Okafor led the Sixers with 15 points.
“We were flat the entire night,” Okafor said.
The Jazz let the Sixers hang around until Shelvin Mack hit a 3-pointer during a 10-0 run that pretty much ended the game. Hayward, who 28 scored points in his season debut Sunday against New York, had four points during the run. He made 9 of 17 shots and had five assists and seven boards.
“He’s going to continue to have good games,” Jazz coach Quin Snyder. “He’s put a lot of time in, a lot of energy, a lot of work. You see it out there with his demeanor. Other guys look to him and they see that, too.”
Utah’s Rudy Gobert and Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid had an anticipated battle of the big men curtailed by foul trouble. Gobert fouled out and scored eight points. Embiid was whistled for five fouls and scored 14 points.
Gobert blocked a shot by Embiid early in the first quarter and Embiid missed a dunk late in the first half.
“We wanted to put hands on balls and be aggressive defensively,” Gobert said.
Embiid, the franchise center nicknamed “The Process,” had a rare quiet game for a team desperately looking for a win. The Sixers lost their first 18 games of the season and 17 straight to open 2014-15. The winless count goes on again this season.
“You’re always wanting to know why and how to achieve wins, close-game wins, close-out wins,” Brown said. “The time that we’ve spent, I think is going to pay dividends.”
TIP-INS
Jazz: The Jazz beat the Sixers for the eighth straight time. … The Jazz made 11 of 19 3-point attempts. … Utah had 11 blocks.
76ers: The 76ers fans, who have been patient during the rebuilding process, loudly booed Nik Stauskas when he missed a pull-up 3 trailing by 16 late in the third. They loudly booed as they fled for the exits with the Sixers down 20 late in the fourth.
HILL OUT
George Hill sat out with a sprained right thumb. Mack started for Hill, who was named NBA Western Conference player of the week on averages of 20.8 points, 5.8 assists and 3.3 rebounds.
“Whoever plays for George isn’t going to be George,” Snyder said. “The good thing about George is that I think he’s prepared to score, to defend, to lead, whatever it is, at any moment that the team needs for him to do.”
JOEL EM-3IID
Embiid actually led the NBA in 3-point percentage (67 percent) because he had made 6 of 9 attempts entering the game. He did not attempt a 3 against the Jazz.
“He has an unusual skill as a 5 man that we can use from time to time,” Brown said.
Embiid was again on a 24-minute restriction following two seasons off because of a broken right foot.
“I want to play more but it’s on them,” Embiid said.
UP NEXT
Jazz: Play Wednesday at Charlotte. Hill is questionable to play against the Hornets.
76ers: Visit Indiana on Wednesday.
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