So, so much went the Utah Jazz’s way on Friday night.
The Jazz shot 50% from 3-point range, well above average. They were getting those loose 50-50 balls that can fall either way, too.
Not only that, but the Memphis Grizzlies were severely shorthanded. Superstar Ja Morant is out on league suspension to headline the list, but Xavier Tillman, Brandon Clarke, Steven Adams, Derrick Rose, and Zaire Williams also were out for the Grizzlies on this night. Yes, the Jazz were missing Walker Kessler, an important player for them, but the Grizzlies missed a veritable NBA lineup of players.
And goodness, were the referees ever in Utah’s favor. Not every call went the Jazz’s way, but the biggest ones of the game did: late in the third quarter, the crew of Karl Lane, John Butler, and Derrick Collins ejected reigning Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. on two technicals after the crew missed a clear foul, adding a third to Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins. Marcus Smart was later fouled out on six fouls. Utah outshot Memphis 29 to 13 from the free-throw line.
Jazz fans know what it’s like to have one of those nights from officials go against them. On this night, it went for them. Jenkins, postgame, called the refereeing “(expletive) atrocious,” in a rant that will surely garner a fine from the league office in short order.
This story isn’t about that, though: It’s about how the Jazz narrowly avoided fumbling the bag. After catching one of the best variance nights in recent memory, they gave up their lead, and then recovered it — and got a key win in the process.
Fumbling the bag
With 3:30 left in the third quarter, the Jazz went up by 21. I made the mistake of calling it “basically game over” for the Grizzlies, given the circumstances.
I underestimated the ability of the Jazz to give the lead right back up to their opponents.
Over the next four minutes, the Jazz would turn the ball over a remarkable seven times. Turnovers have been the Jazz’s biggest problem this season, but even seasoned early-season Jazz watchers were impressed (or, more likely, depressed) by what they saw during this time.
Jazz are running pick-and-roll with Talen Horton-Tucker and Kelly Olynyk. Horton-Tucker, a relatively large and lanky point guard, is being guarded by the smallest player in the NBA in Jacob Gilyard (he’s listed at 5-8). So what does Horton-Tucker do? Tries to beat him and the trapping Aldama with the low crossover dribble toward Gilyard’s arms. It’s, uh, a choice.
This is one of the Jazz’s favorite plays: Lauri Markkanen involved in some split action off the ball, so they can get him either popping out for a three or heading to the rim. Not helpful: when Collin Sexton and Markkanen both cut to the middle. Also not helpful: Olynyk throwing the contested pass.
There were some unnecessary travels and offensive fouls turnovers too. Defensively, there were some tough shots made by the Grizzlies, but also critical defensive mistakes made by the Jazz.
Look: the Jazz’s turnover problems threaten to define the season. If they can’t get ahold of them, it will be impossible to play reasonable offense or reasonable defense, and remaining in the bottom rungs of the Western Conference will result.
The Key/JC recovery
But the Jazz did play with relative poise over the last six minutes, making zero live-ball turnovers over that time, generally getting good shots up, and most importantly, playing excellent rim-protection defense.
It was their backcourt that did most of the heavy lifting. In fact, they took every single shot of the Jazz’s in the final six minutes.
First, Jordan Clarkson was excellent down the stretch: he shot 3-6 during crunch time, but added a block, a steal, an assist, and three rebounds. Yeah, he gets beat here, but what a recovery! And what a calm finish from Keyonte George, whose entry into the game did seem to calm the Jazz.
(As a side note, it couldn’t be more obvious how impressed Markkanen is with George. Quotes like “heck of a player,” “easy to work with,” “proud of him,” “happy for him,” and so on spew from the Jazz’s star whenever someone asks about George. At one point in tonight’s postgame interview, he looked around the scrum to see if he could swear, decided he was on camera with unfamiliar reporters, and decided against it. Instead? “Well, I’m trying not to swear, but he’s nice.”)
This steal and finish from Clarkson was the biggest play of the game:
I also like how often Clarkson finishes his own layup misses with rebounds and tip-ins — obviously, a finish he should make the first time, but it’s great that he had the extra juice so late in the game to go back up and get it again.
But the real key was on the defensive end — where the Grizzlies finished the game just 3-16 from the field. The Jazz didn’t allow a single Grizzlies point from within 20 feet in the final seven minutes.
It was the other J.C., John Collins, that was most impactful here. Here are his two blocks:
Terrific, smart help off of players the Jazz felt comfortable helping off of — Collins’ best defensive work of the season.
There are a lot of moments that the Jazz will want to watch film of in this one; both on the bad end where obvious, dumb mistakes were made, but also on the positive end, things they can carry into their next games.
The next two contests are also In-Season Tournament games. With the a beatable Blazers team, and some struggles early from the Lakers and Suns, the Jazz actually will have a chance to advance to a knockout tournament this season. Given the Jazz’s rebuild, knockout tournament play of any kind can’t be taken for granted.
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