The starting lineup change was announced 15 minutes before tip: Ricky Rubio, who had gone through his pregame warmup, was out with a sore hamstring.
Royce O’Neale only learned he would make a rare start minutes before that, after the team had met to discuss the game plan.
But if anyone questioned his readiness, those doubts were soon assuaged: O’Neale got his hands on the ball the first three times Dillon Brooks, his man, touched it on offense, garnering two steals within the first two minutes.
“I was just playing defense, playing my role, just being alert and active,” O’Neale said. “I mean, that’s what I always do. Just bring a lot of energy any way I can.”
That’s what O’Neale did, making an impact at key moments in Utah’s 107-97 win.
The Jazz wanted to start better than they have the last week, so there was O’Neale, getting steals and helping spark the team in a 29-14 first quarter. The Jazz lost the lead, so there was O’Neale, rallying them in a key third-quarter run with baskets and assists.
The Jazz needed to close, and naturally, O’Neale was there, subbing in for the final 6:30 and adding a few needed rebounds and hitting the last 3-pointer of the game. His success was inseparable from the team’s success — which was the most important part of his 13-point, six-rebound, four-assist, three-steal evening.
Coach Quin Snyder could’ve gone in a different direction to replace Rubio, including starting Dante Exum, who finished with 21 points. O’Neale earned the nod with the defense he’s played this season, and everything else he did made it difficult to second-guess his start.
“They went really small, and as a result, we were small, too,” Snyder said. “Royce was a big part of defending that.”
He also was a big part of the go-ahead stretch, after the Marc Gasol-fueled put tghe outcome in doubt. Out of a 69-all tie, O’Neale picked off another steal, then finished on the fastbreak for a three-point play. He then got the lead up to six points, dishing off to Exum for a backdoor dunk.
After that sequence, with 2:15 left in the third quarter, the Jazz held the lead for the rest of the game.
The bench has been arguably the most questionable area of the team lately, as O’Neale has struggled since the All-Star break to replicate his production from Utah’s earlier 11-game win streak.
But Friday saw him find more of that magic that has allowed him to surge into the Jazz rotation, after being signed last summer from overseas — not much more than a roll of the dice by Utah’s front office.
But just as he was ready when he arrived in training camp, O’Neale was ready against the Grizzlies. And no one should be surprised anymore.
“Hitting a couple 3s, getting a couple steals, easy layups — we just bring a lot of energy,” he said of the Utah bench. “We gotta keep it up.”
