Jazz Complete Opening Week Trilogy

Bogdanovic caught fire against the Kings (via espn.com)

After two evenings in Tinseltown, the Utah Jazz returned home to put the finishing touches on their opening week trilogy.

In the first episode, the Jazz played the part of the hometown hero that lost a few skirmishes, but emerged victorious in the end. In second, they took one on the chin at the hands of the evil empire¹. Saturday night provided the opportunity to storm back, win the war against all odds, and complete the saga in true Hollywood fashion.

In all seriousness, the odds weren’t against the Jazz Saturday, with sports books and statistical models alike favoring Utah over Sacramento. Nevertheless, there’s no such thing as a sure thing in the NBA, a point that seemed especially relevant to a team that had lost five out of six contests against NBA competition so far in the preseason and regular season.

The team was likely hungry not just for a win, but the type of victory that would convince fans and themselves that they were making progress toward coming together as a team.

Foreshadowing alert: they wouldn’t have to wait long.

Bojan Bogdanovic, who was fresh after missing the Los Angeles game Friday night, came out alive and effective, outscoring the Kings by himself with 10 points in the first five minutes. And he wasn’t alone. He and the Jazz offense erupted together, combining with four early Sacramento turnovers to give the Jazz an early 18-8 lead.

Also missing in the defeat Friday night was the team’s ability to shoot, but like Bogey², this too returned. By the end of the first half, Utah had a comfortable 25-point lead on 60% shooting from the field and 59% from three point range. Six Jazz players hitting at least one three-pointer, led by Bogdanovic’s four triples and one celebratory dance³.

𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐖 pic.twitter.com/rZJIuGBSRK

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 27, 2019

The early second half was more of the same, with the Jazz expanding the lead before Kings coach Luke Walton emptied his bench, pulling his starters with 8:39 remaining in the third quarter, never to be seen again. The rest of the game featured extended garbage time, with the Jazz starters, the second team, and finally the deep bench taking turns matching up against the Kings’ reserves.

The final result, a 113-81 blowout, was a welcome change for the Jazz.

PLAYER ROUNDUP

• Donovan Mitchell, who has enjoyed an incredibly efficient start to the season, showed more of the same. His minutes were limited due to the large lead, and he had fewer touches because of the effectiveness of the entire offense, but 6-for-9 and a perfect 3-for-3 from three are additional signs that his game has improved.
• Make no mistake about it: Rudy Gobert is affecting Jazz games. That said, with all the weapons around him, and opponents spending considerable effort to take away the lob, his lines don’t look as gaudy as they once did. The Stifle Tower didn’t miss a shot tonight, and rebounded and defended well, but has been held to 7.0 ppg, 10.3 rpg and 0.67 bpg over three games.
• Mike Conley, who had struggled⁴ in his first two outings with Utah, turned a corner tonight. He shot the ball well (5-for-11 from the field, 2-for 6 from three), and registered eight assists against only two turnovers. Sacramento’s matador defense clearly helped.

In a back-to-back game that saw the Jazz land in Salt Lake City just before 3:00 a.m., the Jazz benefited greatly from a game in which no player had to play more than Mitchell’s 26 minutes. The last thing they needed was to need to dig deep for a dramatic, epic finish.

If this had really been the final chapter of the Hollywood trilogy, that probably wouldn’t be a good thing. We don’t usually like films with no drama after the first quarter, and in which you can see the ending coming from the start.

As a Jazz basketball game, however, this effort deserves two enthusiastic thumbs up.

TRIVIA

Quin Snyder used the coach’s challenge when Mike Conley was whistled for fouling De’Aaron Fox while attempting a three pointer. The Jazz won the challenge, resulting in a jump ball instead of three free throws. Obviously it didn’t impact the outcome of this game, but it’s interesting to see the Jazz coaching staff experiment with how to use this new rule.

COMING ATTRACTIONS

This win, and the chance to build trust in the system and each other, came at the perfect time. The Jazz will play the Phoenix Suns on Monday night, in a game that might have looked like an easy win before the season. Instead, the Suns have impressed in their first three and aren’t playing the patsy⁵.

The Kings and Suns games are important because precede a tough stretch in which the Jazz face the Clippers twice, the Sixers and the Bucks over the next five games.