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Come July, Gordon Hayward will have a chance to opt out of his contract and become a free agent. That's why a group of Jazz fans has started a campaign to put up a billboard asking the All-Star forward to stay in Utah.

They may want to think about putting up a few more after Hayward's performance Friday night.

The forward scored a career-high 39 points, coming up with crucial buckets in the clutch to help the Jazz beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 120-113, keeping their quest for home-court advantage in the playoffs alive.

"A special one," Jazz coach Quin Snyder said when asked about Hayward's season. "I think people here know it. That's why they've got billboards of him going up apparently. He's being rewarded for the investment. His whole heart is in it. He's all in."

With the win and an Oklahoma City loss later in the night, the Jazz clinched the Northwest Division title for the first time since the 2007-08 season, and the ninth time in franchise history.

The fourth-place Jazz (49-30) also moved a full game ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers, with three games remaining in the regular season.

On a night when their usually stingy defense lacked, thanks to early foul trouble for center Rudy Gobert and outstanding performances from Minnesota's Karl-Anthony Towns (32 points, 13 rebounds), Ricky Rubio (26 points, 12 assists) and Andrew Wiggins (25 points), the Jazz needed their offense to sing.

Utah shot 60 percent from the field, including 14 of 25 from beyond the arc. The Jazz got a big night from veteran Joe Johnson, who came off the bench to score 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting. They also got a major boost from forward Derrick Favors, who returned from a 14-game absence due to a knee injury to finish with 13 points.

But the Jazz would have been sunk without their star forward.

"He was just relentless on both ends of the floor," Johnson said, "and we needed that tonight."

Hayward had preached the importance of coming out strong against a lottery-bound Timberwolves team that had bitten the Jazz hard the last time they came to Utah. That 27-point blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on March 1 hurt and the memory has lingered with the Jazz since then. In fact, they have not lost a home game (8-0) since that embarrassing defeat.

"You never like to lose at home," Hayward said. "You feel like you're letting down the fans. You feel like you're disappointing the fans, especially with the way we played."

There was nothing to feel bad about this time.

"It was fun out there tonight," Hayward said. "This was a game we felt like we really, really needed to have."

Hayward made sure they got it, too, scoring seven points in the game's final 91 seconds.

With Utah up 112-111, Hayward calmly stroked a 16-foot jumper. In need of another bucket, with his team now up 114-113, the forward got just inside the right elbow, drew a foul and nailed another shot.

And the Jazz will need more of that from their leading scorer if they're going to make any noise in the postseason.

"It worked tonight," Hayward said of Utah's late-game execution. "We've had other nights where it hasn't been working. We need to learn from nights like tonight and try to emulate them, try to remember back."

afalk@sltrib.com Twitter: @aaronfalk —

Storylines

R Gordon Hayward sets a career with 39 points, his second straight game hitting the 30-point mark.

• Joe Johnson is seven points shy of 20,000 for his career after scoring 22 points off the bench Friday.

More coverage • Trey Lyles' father, Tom, sings the national anthem. > C5 • Derrick Favors returns to Utah's lineup and plays big role in win. > C5 —

Jazz at Trail Blazers

P Saturday, 8 p.m. TV • ROOT