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Minneapolis • Rudy Gobert's left eye had turned black and blue. Derrick Favors' knee, like Alec Burks' ankle, still wasn't right. George Hill's lower lip was as swollen as a boxer's.
On Saturday night, however, every member of the Utah Jazz was healthy enough for the first time all season to get into the fight.
And they needed them all to escape with a 94-92 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Jazz trailed for nearly 23 of the game's final 24 minutes, falling behind by as much as 13 at one point in the second half. With 3:35 to play, the deficit was nine and they looked to be on their way to a third straight defeat.
From there, the Jazz went on a 11-0 run — getting seven straight points from Favors during the stretch and forcing Minnesota to go 0-for-7 with two turnovers — to steal a victory.
"We needed this game," said Favors, who had 15 points, six rebounds and three steals. "… It wasn't pretty, but a win is a win."
And a loss would have spoiled what should have been a night of celebration for the Jazz. After dealing with injuries all season, the team's injury report was empty for the first time. Hill, the last name on the report, had 21 stitches removed from his lower lip on Friday afternoon and was cleared from the NBA's concussion protocol prior to tipoff.
That the Jazz (23-15) are sitting in fifth place in the Western Conference despite those injuries should bode well for Utah going forward.
"It's been good to see our guys really connect and compete together," Jazz head coach Quin Snyder said. "I think that's been the major thing. Rather than be discouraged about someone being out, we've had the opportunity to kind of take those things and try to make them into positives the best we can. Hopefully it will pay dividends further in the year and we'll be able to draw from some of that experience."
The Timberwolves, however, made things tough for the finally full-strength Jazz.
Guard Zach LaVine took advantage of some undisciplined Utah defense to score a game-high 24 points. Center Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points and 15 boards. And forward Andrew Wiggins scored 16.
But Favors came alive down the stretch, knocking down the third 3-pointer of his career to cut the lead to two with about a minute to play.
"When he made that 3, I knew we were going to win," said Gobert, who had 12 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.
In his return, Hill scored 19 points, including a pair of free throws to tie the game at 92. After dealing with concussion symptoms for the better part of a week, and being forced to stick to a liquid diet for part of that time because of the laceration on his lip, there had been some concern about Hill's fatigue. The point guard, however, declined his coach's invitation to sit out the game's final minutes.
"I think he understands that if he would have pulled me out late there, I would have been upset," Hill said. "… I always want to be out there. Yeah, you may have a minute restriction, but the game's on the line. I want to be in there with the guys and I want to win."
Gobert, meanwhile, helped seal it with a go ahead tip-in and a defensive stop on the other end.
LaVine would fire off one more attempt, a 19-footer that could have tied the game as time expired, but drew only iron.
Saturday's game left Snyder feeling "like we've got to figure some stuff out" despite his team's newfound health. But with a full roster at his disposal, Snyder's players believe they have that chance.
"It's always special when you've got a whole team," Hill said. "I think we're a very, very deep team, so it's going to be fun to see what we can do out there."
Twitter: @aaronfalk —
Storylines
R The Jazz close the game on a 11-0 run over the final 3:35 to escape with their 23rd win of the season.
• George Hill scores a team-high 19 points to go with seven assists and five rebounds in his return from injury.