On the night the Utah Jazz drafted Dante Exum in 2014, general manager Dennis Lindsey called him an anticipation pick.
The Jazz knew he was young. They knew it would take time for him to develop. Obviously, nobody could foresee two major injuries in four seasons, but they preached patience.
In a 107-97 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night, Exum put it all together on an NBA floor for the first time in his career. No, his 21 points weren’t a career-high. He once scored 22 points against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
But it was the first time Exum had a major and lasting impact on a game, and not an impact in spurts. He went 9 of 10 from the floor, and made three of his four 3-pointers. He grabbed three rebounds and handed out an assist in 27 minutes. He got into the lane at will and finished at the rim. He made winning plays, delighting a sellout crowd at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
On Friday night, Dante Exum may have finally arrived.
“It’s good to have a game like that, especially after all I’ve been through this season,” Exum said. “It’s a good boost to my confidence. I know what I can do, and I know what I can bring to this team.”
In truth, Exum’s been playing well since returning from the shoulder surgery that’s kept him on the shelf for most of the season. In his eight games, he’s averaging 20.5 points per 36 minutes, to go along with 6.2 assists and 4.0 rebounds.
But Exum’s been doing that in limited minutes, as the Jazz have reintegrated him slowly. Against the Grizzlies, with starting point guard Ricky Rubio a late scratch due to hamstring soreness, the Jazz didn’t have a choice. Exum had to play a bigger role.
So, coming off the bench, the 6-foot-6 point guard scored 16 of those 21 points in the second half. He hounded the Memphis guards defensively. He made many of the plays needed to allow the Jazz to finally pull away from a Grizzlies team that hung tough for over three quarters.
“He has steadily been playing better,” Utah coach Quin Snyder said.
“There have been flashes of what he did tonight. He hasn’t played as many minutes because there hasn’t been an opportunity. We’re confident in what he can do.”
Collectively, the Jazz played well down the stretch, but struggled in large part with Memphis. They did receive a giant assist from the Grizzlies, who sat center Marc Gasol for the entire fourth quarter as well as the last four minutes of the third quarter.
To that point, Gasol had played 23 minutes. He had scored a game-high 28 points on 11-of-12 shooting from the field. He had made six 3-pointers. He was torching the Jazz offensively in every way imaginable.
Without Gasol, the Grizzlies had nobody to go to for offense down the stretch. And Utah was able to pull away.
“The game changed when Marc went out,” Jazz center Rudy Gobert said. “It changed a lot. Marc is a very good player.”
Even so, the Jazz made the plays needed to win. They received 17 points, to go along with 10 assists and five rebounds from Joe Ingles. Rookie star Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points and handed out four assists. Fellow rookie Royce O’Neale scored 13 points, while grabbing six rebounds and handing out four assists.
Utah improved to 43-33 with the win. The Jazz also improved their place in the Western Conference standings. With the New Orleans Pelicans losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Jazz move into the seventh spot.
“We just had to execute,” Ingles said. “We knew we had to grind. They’re a good, young team. They obviously play super hard every night. We just stuck with it and stuck with the game plan.”
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