Four months after their star center’s positive COVID-19 test precipitated the shutdown of the NBA and rest of the sports world, the Utah Jazz returned to action on Thursday with a 106-104 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Entering the second half down by 12 points and the fourth quarter down 9, the Jazz rallied with an 11-1 run midway through the final frame to take the lead. A close game eventually came down to a pass from Jazz star Donovan Mitchell to Rudy Gobert, who drew a foul and sank two free throws to give Utah the final lead.