Jazz Thoughts After Season Finale Victory

Utah Jazz rookies Justin Wright-Foreman, Miye Oni and Jarrell Brantley–here shown in their June 2019 press conference–have all impressed in Orlando.

The final regular season game for the 2019-2020 Utah Jazz was as anticlimactic as the last two seasons’ Defensive Player of the Year voting. There was little suspense as the load managing Jazz nonchalantly defeated an unmotivated San Antonio Spurs squad 118-112.

Thursday’s contest mirrored some of the recent Utah games, with many of the regulars either sitting out or seeing limited playing time. Even so, a number of fun story lines have emerged over the past week, especially with an exciting Playoff series against the Denver Nuggets just around the corner.

Getting back on track: Through the first few outings in the Orlando bubble, several Jazzmen were struggling with their shots. Namely Jordan Clarkson and Georges Niang. With Utah’s depth and offensive firepower being valid concerns (sans Bojan Bogdanovic), the timing could not be better.

In the first four games, sixth man Clarkson was just 6 of 26 from long distance–including many open looks. This inability to hit hampered the entire second unit. So much of the second unit offense centers around Clarkson. His errant, sometimes forced shooting allowed defenses to back off, clogging the middle. Utah’s spacing and execution were not good at all. That said, Clarkson’s confidence did not wane…one of the pluses of a scorer’s mentality. His shot has more than returned: he is 17 of his last 34 3-pointers. More importantly, his shots are coming more in the flow of the offense. Clarkson played limited minutes, but it had to be comforting to the coaching staff to see him return to his normal play. Having another 20 to 25 point threat alleviates some of the scoring burden from Donovan Mitchell. 

Niang also bounced back in a reassuring way the last three games, contributing 11.7 points per game while hitting 10-17 (59 percent) 3-pointers. He has been confident and is moving well without the basketball. When the fourth-year forward is connecting from the perimeter, it really opens things up for both his teammates and himself. For example, his torrid shooting has allowed him to do a bit more off the dribble and to display his passing skills. This gives Utah another creator. 

The Spurs’ greatness: San Antonio’s streak of 22 consecutive postseason appearances is over. There were many humorous tweets after the game, trying to put into perspective this tremendous longevity. For me, I had just graduated from high school and was serving a mission for my church. No degree, no job, no marriage and no children yet…so literally a lifetime (or several) ago. It is difficult for me to even remember the Spurs not being good, especially when you remember that they had a seven-year Playoff streak prior to 1997. This run only shows the greatness of San Antonio’s run, which, of course. There have been so many times they were counted out, or when their proverbial window had been shut. Yet come late April, the Spurs were still playing while other teams had already begun their vacations. In fact, there were five times they were the final team standing. Kudos to Gregg Popovich, David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker and company for a remarkable run. 

Given the ties between the Jazz and Spurs, it was somewhat fitting that the streak officially ended just before tipoff. Popovich, in particular, often heaped praise on Utah’s front office and coaching staff for creating a winning culture–one that he and the team hoped and succeeded in adopting in San Antonio. The mutual respect between Popovich and Jerry Sloan was always a joy to watch. There were also the connections Jazz vice president Dennis Lindsey and Snyder have with the Spurs. 

Oh, and it should be noted that the Jazz also had a 20-season Playoff streak of their own, spanning 1984 to 2003. 

The Salt Lake City Stars vets: This will require a more thorough analysis on this writer’s part, but each of the young Jazz rookies played well in Orlando. Jarrell Brantley, Miye Oni, Rayjon Tucker, Juwan Morgan, Justin Wright-Foreman and Nigel Williams-Goss all had their moments, with some showing the potential to be rotation players for Utah in the future. Even though some of the games were not of the normal regular season ilk, the young kids faced some quality players and held their own. It was nice for Snyder and company to get a chance to see their first-year players in some extended playing stints. 

Jazz statistical tidbits: With the regular season in the books, here are some statistics of note:

• Utah finished the season as the second best 3-point shooting team in the NBA, at an even 38 percent. They attempted 1.2 more treys per game than 2018-19, but also made 1.3 more. 11 players on the final 17-man roster shot 34.5 percent or better.
• From the free throw line, the Jazz jumped from 73.6 percent to 77.9 percent. Unfortunately, they had 11 percent less attempts from the charity stripe. 
• The Jazz were last in the league in steals (6.1) and 28th in blocked shots (4.1). 
• With Joe Ingles playing minimal minutes the last two outings, Utah’s stalwart Aussie finished the season with a 9.8 points per game average. The Jazz just missed their third season with six players scoring in double-digits. Ingles, of course, has played 403 consecutive games–the NBA’s longest current streak. Not bad for a guy Utah claimed off the waiver wire one October day in 2014. 
• Tony Bradley is still a work-in-progress, but he finished the season with some impressive numbers: .681 true shooting percentage, 19.1 offensive rebounding percentage, 25.0 defensive rebounding percentage, 22.2 total rebounding percentage and .236 win shares/48 minutes. Had he qualified for league leaders, he would have finished third, first, 14th, fourth and fifth in those respective categories. 
• Per Basketball Reference, the reigning two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Rudy Gobert, led the NBA in true shooting percentage, effective field goal percentage and dunks.
• Utah’s assist percentage (number of field goals assisted) fell from 64.3 percent in 2018-19 (2,133 assists to 3,314 field goals) to 56 percent (1,615 assists to 2,886 field goals). 
• Besides increasing his scoring for a third straight season, Donovan Mitchell recorded career-bests on field goal percentage from the following ranges: 3-10 feet; 10-16 feet, 16+ feet two-point field goals and from 3-point distance.