Injuries Can’t Stop Streaking Jazz From Sixth Straight Victory

April 4th, 2019 | by Steve Godfrey

Gobert did plenty of this on Wednesday, but had help, including from a rookie. (Barry Gossage via ESPN.com)

Late regular season games in April bring out battles of the third string. And in this battle of benches, the Phoenix Suns’ Jimmer Fredette was outdone by Jimmer 2.0, Jazz rookie Grayson Allen. It’s not a coincidence the Jazz’s mantra states, “The strength of the team is the team.” Due to a flurry of injuries, the motto was tested and executed to perfection on Wednesday night in a Jazz 118-97 victory over the Suns. 

The Utah Jazz were without starters Derrick Favors and Ricky Rubio, and a handful of other key contributors including Jae Crowder. Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns played without rookie big man DeAndre Ayton (ankle sprain) and others, and then lost superstar Devin Booker midway through the first quarter to an ankle sprain, as well.

Consequently, the game was ugly. The Jazz had 2o turnovers. The Suns shot 24% from deep. A total of 39 fouls were called. Guys named Georges Niang and De’Anthony Melton played significant minutes. 

Yet, when it comes to late regular season games in April, wins are all that matter.

In the previous three match-ups between these two teams, Rudy Gobert averaged 20.3 points, 14 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 1.7 blocks while shooting better than 71% from the field. Wednesday night he added a stat line of 17 points (on 7-9 shooting), 13 rebounds, and five blocks to that résumé. Without much offense, Joe Ingles went 6-for-8 from deep to score 27 points and dished out a team-best eight assists. Donovan Mitchell did a bucket better with 29 on an efficient 9-of-19 shooting night, with 4-for-7 from beyond the arc, and 7-for-7 from the line.  As a team, the Jazz shot 50% from deep, making 16 of 32, while going 57% from the field. 

History Foretold This

According to ESPN’s Basketball Power Index, the Jazz had an 80% chance of leaving Talking Stick Resort Arena with a win as the Jazz were 5-0 in their last five games, while Phoenix is now 1-5 in their recent six. Consider: Phoenix has the 27th ranked offense and 29th ranked defense. In addition, the Jazz were averaging 116 points per game during their recent win streak while Phoenix gives up 116 points on a nightly basis. 

Aside from that, the Jazz certainly have Phoenix’s number as they’ve beaten the Suns 14 times in the last fifteen meetings now. Per ESPN, the Jazz have held the Suns under 100 points in 13 of those games, including every single one this season. Last time they met, Booker erupted for a season-high 59 points, but the Suns still lost handily, 125-92. Without him? There wasn’t much chance. 

One more nugget? The Jazz have tallied at least 30 assists four times in their last six home games and 24 times overall this season. They’ve only lost 4 times when they’ve dished for 30 or more assists (19-4). Wednesday night, the Jazz crossed the 30 assist threshold yet again, which, believe it or not, helped lead to the win. 

The Recap

It looked as if Booker was on the same track, and perhaps that the Suns would break that awful streak, until Booker went down awkwardly halfway into the first quarter. 

Phoenix started the game on a 10-0 run, nailing their first two threes (Mikal Bridges and then Elie Okobo) and then getting out in transition early for easy, quick buckets.  If the Suns do anything right in an NBA game, it’s running in transition as they are the 14th ranked team when it comes to transition points (compared to 28th in points within the half-court). With two minutes off the clock, Jazz coach Quin Snyder called for timeout. Only after that initial timeout did the Jazz get their first bucket as  Mitchell made a driving layup off a set play with an assist from Gobert. After another quick five points for Phoenix, it was 15-2 for the rising Suns. Per David Locke and the radio broadcast, it was just the 13th time all season that the Suns had led by 10+ in the first quarter. Good news for the Jazz, and foreshadowing: they were only 4-8 in those previous 12 games. 

Then, with a Suns’ advantage of 21-12, Booker went down while fighting for a rebound with Utah’s Royce O’Neale, resulting in a gnarly ankle roll. He was helped off the floor by his teammates, leaving with eight points on 3/4 shooting and one assist, and would not return. After his injury, the Jazz went on a mini-run, 13-10, to bring the first stanza to a more reasonable deficit, a 31-25 score. The Jazz shot 11-of-19 while the Suns were 13-for-23. 

The Grayson-Jimmer show then began, which is what fans paid money for in the first place. Given the short bench, Allen was able to get minutes and was productive early in the second quarter. Guarded by  Fredette, Allen made a three point jumper and was able to glide to the hoop for a layup. For Allen, the best offense and the best moments just need a little Jimmer. However, he also made improvements on the defensive end of the floor, including a nasty block.

Fredette, on the other hand, shot 2-for-4 in ten first-half minutes, but became a target on the floor as the Jazz outscored the Suns by 11 when he was on the court in the first half. As the Jazz finally took a lead, it was Joe Ingles who caught fire to give some desperately-needed offense as he made back-to-back bombs from deep and then found Gobert on back-to-back plays for dunks at the hoop. The next possession? An Ingles three, duh. By the end of the quarter, the Jazz had the lead of 56-53 after securing a 31-22 advantage in the quarter. 

Mitchell put his mark on the game in the third quarter, starting off with two assists and then making two threes in a four-minute span to give the Jazz a 10-point lead. Suns center Richaun Holmes kept putting the ball in the hoop (finished with 16 points and nine rebounds), displaying some nice work inside the paint against Gobert, but the Jazz kept spreading the ball around to keep the lead at the end of three, 84-76. 

From that point onward, the Jazz maintained control. Mitchell had a four-point play in the fourth quarter and Georges Niang, Raul Neto, and Allen kept putting up timely buckets as the Jazz bench (without Jae Crowder and Kyle Korver) had 41 total points on the night. 

Jimmer or Gray

For those interested in these type of things, Allen finished the game with 14 points in 19 minutes. As mentioned earlier, he played good defense and held his own with a +9 on-court performance. Fredette, on the other hand, had 10 points and two steals, but was a -21 in the defeat. It was Jimmer’s first double-figure scoring game in the NBA since March 20, 2015. He has yet to hit a three since his recent return to the NBA. 

Milestones

Two milestones were accomplished for Jazzmen Ingles and Gobert on Wednesday. For Ingles, his Iron Man streak of consecutive regular season games plays hit 300. For Gobert, it was another double-double by the end of a hard day of work. That is now 63 double-doubles on the season, a new franchise record for point-rebound double-doubles.

Quotable

Prior to the game, former Jazz assistant Igor Kokoskov spoke highly of his former team and their potential for the playoffs.

Kokoskov said, “I believe that this team is built to go to the end of May.” He added, “The other teams in the west — I’m not saying they fear the Utah Jazz, but they don’t want to play them. It’s just not just because I have a lot of friends there, I strongly believe that they have a chance to go all the way to the end of May.” 

Kokoskov was also an assistant coach for the 2004 title winning Detroit Pistons. Comparing the Jazz to those ’04 Bad Boys, Kokoskov said, “They remind me in a lot of different aspects of the 2004 Detroit Pistons. They have to stay healthy; we were healthy in 2004.”

With four games left on the season, it seems quite likely that the Jazz will stay in the 5th spot for playoff positioning, unless they severely hiccup in the next week-and-a-half. Wednesday nights win put them a full game ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers in the standings, but Portland and Houston are currently tied (50-28) with regards to who the Jazz would face if they stay in that 5th seed. 

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