(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz center Diamond Stone (50) works for a shot, as Memphis Grizzlies forward Ivan Rabb (10) defends, in Jazz summer league action between Utah Jazz and Memphis Grizzlies in Salt Lake City, Tuesday, July 3, 2018.
The Utah Jazz trailed the Memphis Grizzlies by almost 30 points on Tuesday night in summer league action at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Then, they almost came back to win the game.
So, even though the Jazz came up short in a 95-92 loss to the Grizzlies before 10,079 fans, Utah showed resiliency in rallying without rookie guard Grayson Allen — even though it wasn’t enough in the end.
“We put an emphasis on defense,” Jazz guard Naz Mitrou-Long said. “Once we started to do that, that’s when the comeback started. We put ourselves in position to win. We played Utah Jazz basketball.”
In the end, a Memphis team with substantial talent made the plays down the stretch. Wayne Selden and Kobi Simmons dropped in 20 points apiece. Second-year center Deyonta Davis scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds. Prized rookie Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 10 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked two shots.
Mitrou-Long led the Jazz with 19 points, adding eight assists and six rebounds. Georges Niang scored 18 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out four assists. Tony Bradley scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
Allen was rested after Monday’s win over the Spurs. Tuesday’s loss puts the Jazz at 1-1 in summer league ahead of Thursday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks at 7 p.m.
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