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SALT LAKE CITY — John Collins walked down the court with both his arms held up high. It was only kinda sorta in celebration.

Sure, the Jazz had secured a victory, but Collins was just making sure everyone saw that he had gone straight up on the game’s deciding possession.

Minnesota’s Donte DiVincenzo had broken free on the perimeter and drove right into the heart of the paint. Collins was there to meet him, causing DiVincenzo to lose the ball on a layup attempt and secure Utah’s 117-116 win over the Timberwolves Friday at the Delta Center.

As Collin strolled down the court with his pose, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch extended his arms out in shock and looked around at the officials, hoping there would be a whistle. But it was a clean play; Collins had gone straight up and absorbed the contact without fouling.

That meant it was game over.

“John takes the contact, resists the urge to try to pop his hands down and block the shot,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “That’s how you would teach verticality that clip.”

It even impressed Walker Kessler, who came over to help on the play — and has a knack for big defensive plays himself.

“He’s a freak athlete,” Kessler said of Collins. “It was really disciplined to go straight up and not foul.”

That play capped off a stellar night for Collins, who in addition to finishing with 29 points and 12 rebounds, just so happened to make the two winning plays in the game’s closing seconds.

Before he stopped DiVincenzo at the rim, he made the assist to Kessler for the game-winning dunk.

“I missed two of the layups,” Kessler said. “So I figured I might as well go try and dunk it.”

That worked out pretty well.

It was the latest example of the chemistry between the two bigs. The Jazz have gone to more and more sets to open up big-to-big passes. It’s an old-school approach, but one that Collins said is a “natural part” of his game. And it looked pretty natural late on Friday when he hit Kessler with the quick touch pass in the paint to free him for the open dunk.

“I try to give Walk back as much as I can,” Collins said. “He does so much on the defensive end, cleans up a lot of messy, messy defense. And whenever the big fella is rewarded, I feel like, as a big man, he plays harder, works harder.”

And speaks more, too, which is something Hardy has been encouraging. The Jazz coach said the thing that’s stood out to him is Kessler’s communication on defense. The third-year big man is taking control of the defense, not only as a physical anchor but also a vocal one. Kessler compared it to being a middle linebacker, making the defensive calls and making sure everyone is in the right spots.

“Walker has made a really big jump in his communication in the last two weeks,” Hardy said. “That’s his biggest emphasis this next pocket of games is the only thing I’m really evaluating him on at this point, or trying to coach him on.”

Potentially related? The Jazz allowed just 6 points in the paint in the third quarter, in which the team erased a double-digit deficit.

That set up for the hectic ending on Friday.

Those winning plays finished off a fun night for the Jazz. Isaiah Collier had some eye-popping passes on his way to a career-best 14 assists, and KJ Martin had multiple alley-oop dunks, including a one-handed tomahawk midway through the fourth quarter, as he continues to fit right in with the young team.

The team had a season-high 35 assists and had six players reach double figures. Utah used a 27-4 run to start the third quarter to erase an 11-point halftime deficit.

“On a night where we played 11 guys, I thought everybody came in and gave some energy and made some plays that helped contribute to the win,” Hardy said.

And it was even a game the Jazz management might have wanted to win. The front office has its eyes set on the draft, so every win has a somewhat sweet and sour taste, but Utah also owns Minnesota’s draft pick and the loss dropped the Timberwolves to the ninth spot in the West, potentially giving Utah a second lottery pick.

Hey, when the season’s over, maybe one loss will be what keeps Minnesota out of the playoffs. On the flip side, maybe one win will keep Utah from having the best odds for the No. 1 pick. Whatever the case, at least Friday was a fun one.