Utah Jazz: Jazz overcome slow start to beat Wizards

Washington • The Jazz overcame disastrous starts to both the game and the second half Saturday to rally for their second road win of the season, beating Washington 83-76.

There was nothing convincing about the Jazz's victory, which saw them commit 19 turnovers and shoot only 37.8 percent from the floor against a team that has not yet won a game. But the Jazz, who salvaged a 2-2 record on the four-game road trip, couldn't be picky.

On a night Tyrone Corbin opted to start his "big" lineup, the group was largely ineffective together. But in the third quarter, the Jazz rallied behind 17 points from Al Jefferson, who finished with a game-high 21 points.

The Wizards had an opportunity to tie the game with 7:54 remaining in the fourth quarter, but with the Jazz up 69-67, Trevor Ariza missed a pair of free throws. From there, the Jazz went on an 11-2 run that put them up 80-69.

Where it was Jefferson saving the third quarter for the Jazz, it was Gordon Hayward in the second. Hayward came off the bench for the first time this season, yielding his starting spot to Randy Foye — a tactic which Corbin hoped would give his third-year player more opportunities to create with the second unit.

It worked.

Hayward scored 13 first-half points, including an alley-oop dunk that put the Jazz up 27-23.

The Jazz came back from a 55-47 deficit in the third quarter to tie the game at 55.

boram@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tribjazz —