This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The fatigue. The injuries. The attrition. It all finally caught up to the Utah Jazz on Monday night.
To their credit, the Jazz were competitive for most of the night. When they could've given in to the heavy legs, and a short roster, they didn't. But Memphis was too much on Monday night. The Grizzlies were too experienced, and too desperate for their first road win of the season.
The resulting 102-96 Memphis win before 18,176 at Vivint Smart Home Arena seemed inevitable for large stretches. But after the Jazz scraped and clawed their way to an 88-88 tie with 4:11 remaining, the Grizzlies took over with a 6-0 run down the stretch that made the inevitable official.
"The biggest part of the game was our defense," Jazz forward Joe Johnson said. "It wasn't that we didn't get defensive stops. It was that we couldn't get the rebound when we did get stops. I think that hurt us."
Utah played without George Hill and Rodney Hood, its starting backcourt. Jazz forward Derrick Favors tried to play, but limped through 21 minutes in obvious pain, shooting multiple airballs until he was finally shut down with recurring left knee soreness.
Gordon Hayward went 4-of-14 from the field, took a vicious shot to his healing finger, and struggled his way to 13 points in 35 minutes, by far his worst outing of the season. Rudy Gobert was ineffective, scoring six points and grabbing five rebounds in 21 minutes. He had serious issues guarding Memphis center Marc Gasol, and was not a part of the Quin Snyder's fourth quarter closing lineup.
"Rudy wasn't playing well," Snyder said. "We had that lineup in, and those guys brought us back. Rudy was the first one cheering. That lineup was playing the best basketball, so we went with them."
Even with all of the problems, the Jazz had multiple chances to steal a win. Joe Ingles played what was arguably his best game in a Jazz uniform, scoring a career-high 20 points, shooting 7-of-11 from the field and hitting four 3-pointers. When the Jazz needed a big shot, he was there to provide it, giving the offense a lift with Hayward and Favors struggling.
Trey Lyles scored a season-high 18 points, and Shelvin Mack scored 17 points, both playing extensive minutes, and both making plays on offense that kept the Jazz afloat.
"I got some good looks early," Ingles said. "I missed a couple, but I kept getting looks and I just wanted to stay aggressive."
Utah scored 96 points on Monday night, which would usually be enough for the Jazz to pull out a win. But their defense faltered. Memphis shot 60 percent from the field in the first quarter on its way to scoring 33 points, and the Jazz were never able to fully recover.
Gasol, one of the best low-post players in the league, scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed five rebounds. He was a headache and virtual mismatch for any Jazz player who tried to guard him on Monday night.
And when Gasol wasn't working magic in the paint, Mike Conley was carving up Utah on the perimeter, getting into the lane at will and scoring 18 points to go along with seven assists. Those two opened things for 39 year-old Vince Carter, who scored 20 points. Then, Zach Randolph came off the bench and bullied the Jazz for 18 points and 10 rebounds.
The Grizzlies won the rebounding battle 44-29. They grabbed 14 offensive rebounds and turned them into 20 second-chance points. Those were statistics the Jazz couldn't overcome.
Utah, 7-5 on the season, will face the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night.
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