Jazz Grit Their Way to a Win Over the Nets, 119-114

It took a big fourth, but the Jazz stayed undefeated at home (Rick Bowner via espn.com)

The Jazz’s latest win, 119-114 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night, could almost be described as an inverse of last week’s dramatic win over the Milwaukee Bucks. That game ended in a Bojan Bogdanovic buzzer-beating three-pointer. The Jazz held a 20-point lead at the half and let Milwaukee chip away until it took Bogey’s incredible attempt to win at the horn. 

On Tuesday, though, the Jazz played out role of the Bucks, gutting their way back despite trailing much of the night. Fortunately for them, the night did not end for the Jazz the way that it did for the Bucks — though it well could have when Nets star Kyrie Irving launched a three with the Jazz up by two and only seven seconds on the game clock. 

The Jazz lost control of this match early as a result of a blend of poor decision making, particularly on shot attempts and poor rotations. Tired legs may have been a factor, as the Jazz were on the second leg of a back-t0-back after playing at Golden State the night before. 

Throughout the first half, the Nets were able to get off any shot they wanted, and led by 15 at halftime. At that point, it looked like the Jazz didn’t stand a chance at a comeback. Every Jazz rally was ended by successive brilliant shots made by Taurean Prince (early in the first half), Kyrie, and Spencer Dinwiddie. The Jazz seemingly had no answers. 

After the half, the Jazz fought hard with a 13-0 run to start the half, but once again their efforts fell short. Despite cutting the lead to two, Brooklyn’s offensive might (third best offense in the league prior to the matchup with the Jazz) pushed the lead back to 8 to end the third quarter. Then the Utah reserves stepped up.

Thanks to the playmaking of Emmanuel Mudiay and shotmaking of Jeff Green, the Jazz were able to claw back in front at 97-96, their first lead of the night since 17-15. Green hit a pair of threes and Mudiay made some impressive reads, including drawing contact and sinking both free throws. From this point on it was a back and forth. Joe Ingles played spectacular defense on Irving in the fourth quarter and forced some bad shots (several of which Kyrie made anyway), but especially the key miss in which Irving missed the go-ahead three and ultimately sealed the game. 

The Jazz maybe should not have won this game, but this may also be a sign of a strong team: capable of gutting out wins in tough situations with the odds against them. Whatever the case, the Jazz are sitting at 8-3, but still have a long ways to go to show they have the offensive strength to win at the highest level of competition.

Donovan Mitchell ended the game with 30 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists while Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley added 18 points apiece. Mudiay chipped in 15 off the bench and may have been they key player in the win. 

The Jazz have their next action on Friday, when Conley makes his homecoming in Memphis, where he played for 12 season prior to joining the Jazz via an offseason trade.