Utah Jazz star Jusuf Nurki in action | Image Credits: IMAGO/ ZUMA Press Wire
Lauri Markkanen scored 35 points as the Utah Jazz notched the fourth-highest score in franchise history with a 152-128 win over the Indiana Pacers at Salt Lake City on Tuesday.
Markkanen hit 13 of 19 from the floor and 5 of 7 from 3-point range, while Svi Mykhailiuk and Ace Bailey added 20 each as Utah had eight players in double-figure scoring to snap a three-game skid.
Utah's best totals are 154 -- twice -- against Sacramento in April 2021 and in overtime against Detroit in January 2024, and 153 as the New Orleans Jazz against San Antonio in April 1978.
Pascal Siakam posted 27 points and Andrew Nembhard 25 for Indiana, which crashed to its fifth straight defeat.
Indiana's T.J. McConnell checked in with 6:45 on the clock in the opening frame for his season debut and finished with 12 points in 11 first-half minutes. He had been sidelined due to a hamstring injury.
Nembhard and Siakam were active as the Pacers jumped to a 10-0 headstart before the home side worked its way into the contest.
Brice Sensabaugh's 3-pointer with 1:00 left in the first gave Utah its first lead, which it held at the end of the quarter, 38-34.
Bailey's 3-pointer and dunk sparked a 12-0 burst in the second period, which gave the Jazz total control, boosting their lead from 43-41 to 55-41.
The 19-year-old rookie had 12 points for the quarter and Utah led 70-57 at halftime.
Indiana was outrebounded 18-10 in the second, while shooting 9 of 28 from the floor and 2 of 13 from deep.
The Jazz racked up 44 points in the third quarter, piloted by Markkanen.
The Finnish forward peeled off eight points in the first 2:07 of the second half and had 17 in the third frame on 100% shooting, while Utah connected on 16 off 22 from the floor.
Walter Clayton Jr. started the fourth period with a trey as the Jazz's buffer ballooned to 117-91.
