Hayward, Jazz continue road trip against winless 76ers

Gordon Hayward returned to spark the Utah Jazz to a victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday afternoon. Now the Jazz will look to win for the fourth time in five games when they visit the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night.

Hayward, a veteran forward and Utah's leading scorer last season, missed the first six games after breaking his left ring finger in training camp. He returned to score a team-high 28 points in the 114-109 victory in New York, the Jazz's first stop on a five-game road trip.

"I thought I didn't shoot the ball very well," Hayward told NBA.com. "I honestly didn't think I played very well."

Hayward missed 11 of 17 shots from the floor while playing 35 minutes.

"I wanted to keep my legs -- a lot of it was for my legs, my footwork," Hayward said. "(I wanted) to not be winded and not be on a minutes restriction when I came back. And my legs and my wind were great tonight. So for me I think there's going to be little timing issues, and a little rhythm thing, but I'll get that back in the next couple of games."

Guard George Hill, acquired from the Indiana Pacers in a three-team trade in July, added 23 points on Sunday for Utah (4-3). Hill, who spent five seasons with Indiana, is averaging 20 points per game, which if maintained would be a career high.

The Sixers fell to 0-5 with a 102-101 loss to Cleveland on Saturday night, Philadelphia's 42nd straight October/November defeat dating to a victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Nov. 22, 2013.

The Sixers, who lost their first 18 games last season and their first 17 the previous, fell behind Saturday when the Cavaliers' Channing Frye knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:05 left. Philadelphia turned the ball over on its final five possessions, the last when Cleveland guard J.R. Smith knocked the ball away from Gerald Henderson. Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert recovered it at the buzzer.

"I got fouled, they didn't call it and that's the end of the game," Henderson told CSNPhilly.com after the game. "I think J.R. was guarding me. Somebody's hand came and it wasn't a lot of ball. I know he hit my arm or my wrist or my hand or whatever it was, and you know, the game's over. But there's a lot of things you can do before then so it doesn't come down to that. But refs didn't make the call and we lose the game. That's the way it goes."

Rookie center Joel Embiid made all four of his 3-point attempts while scoring 22 points for Philadelphia. Embiid, who missed two seasons as a result of two foot surgeries, will be limited to 24 minutes a game until at least Christmas. He nonetheless leads the team with an average of 18.5.

The Sixers are without center/forward Nerlens Noel, who recently had knee surgery, and No. 1 overall draft pick Ben Simmons, who is out until at least January following foot surgery.

Utah forward Boris Diaw will miss another week with a leg contusion and guard Alec Burks is out following knee and ankle surgeries.