SALT LAKE CITY -- Disaster seemed to be hovering on the horizon for the Utah Jazz when Rudy Gobert went down with a knee injury in early November.

Gobert, one of the NBA's elite defensive players, anchors a Jazz defense that was porous whenever he was off the floor. Things changed while he was gone.

When the center returned to action in a 116-69 win over the Washington Wizards on Monday night, he got to see how much his teammates grew on defense without him.

The Wizards matched the lowest point total for any NBA team this season. They shot just 23 of 80 (28.8 percent) from the floor against the Jazz.

"I feel like it brought us together as a team," Gobert said of his injury that led to an 11-game absence. "Guys are ready to take defense more personally, and I feel like everyone got better defensively. Now that I'm back, we get to that level even better than we've ever been."

Alec Burks scored 27 points to spearhead a balanced offensive effort from the Utah. Donovan Mitchell added 21 points. Gobert finished with 10 rebounds, four points and two blocks in 21 minutes.

Utah (13-11) won its sixth straight game overall and fifth consecutive home contest. The Jazz shot 16 of 34 (47.1 percent) from the perimeter.

"We were a step behind in just about everything," Wizards coach Scott Brooks said. "They were running their offense and we were playing chase. When you do that, you're at their mercy."

Otto Porter Jr. scored 14 points while Bradley Beal, Markieff Morris and Kelly Oubre Jr. added 11 apiece for Washington. The Wizards (12-11) lost for the sixth time in nine games, struggling to generate any consistent offense and getting dominated on the glass.

Washington got dominated around the basket on both ends of the court. The Jazz outrebounded the Wizards 52-31 and had a 50-24 advantage in points in the paint.

"It was embarrassing, that's probably the best way to put it," Beal said. "There's no point in really getting down about it because we plainly got our (butt) kicked today."

Making sweet music on offense came easy for the Jazz before halftime. Utah matched its season high with 64 first-half points. The Jazz shot 25 of 44 (56.8 percent) from the field before the break, 43 of 76 (56.6 percent) overall.

Mitchell set the tone with a melody of crisp passes and excellent shooting in the first quarter. The rookie scored baskets on all four of his field-goal attempts in the period. His final one came on a pull-up jumper that gave Utah a 19-13 lead.

The play opened the door for a 33-6 Jazz run that put the game out of reach. Utah took its first double-digit lead at 26-15 on a layup from Thabo Sefolosha and a cutting dunk from Derrick Favors on back-to-back possessions. The Jazz kept surging ahead on a combination of layups and 3-pointers.

Utah took a 20-point lead at 37-17 on back-to-back 3-pointers from Sefolosha and Raul Neto. Gobert scored a put-back layup and Jonas Jerebko drilled a 3-pointer to finally finish off the run and put the Jazz ahead 52-21 with 5:55 left before halftime.

"We caught them on a tough shooting night, which makes it hard," Utah coach Quin Snyder said. "We were fortunate in that respect. I think we really came out with the right mindset defensively. When we do that, the offense is just easier and the ball moved."

The Wizards endured a major cold spell to facilitate Utah's decisive run. They missed 16 of 17 shots over an eight-minute stretch spanning the first and second quarter. Porter was the only Washington player who made more than two field-goal attempts in the first half.

Washington only led twice in the game, both within the first three minutes of the first quarter. Tim Frazier gave the Wizards their final lead when he drained a pull-up 3-pointer to make it 7-6.

NOTES: Utah had 29 assists on 43 baskets while holding Washington to 23 total field goals. ... Wizards G Bradley Beal is averaging 10.5 points on 30.8 percent shooting over his past two games after averaging 24.7 points per game through the month of November. ... Jazz G Alec Burks is averaging 26.3 points on 63.8 percent shooting over his past three games. ... Wizards C Marcin Gortat logged his 105th straight start. It is the third-longest active streak in the NBA.