Late Barrage from Outside Seals Jazz Win, 103-95

Bogdanovic and Conley took turns making late plays in Utah’s road win. (David Sherman via espn.com)

After the Jazz’s Monday night loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in Salt Lake City, the rematch in Minnesapolis on Wednesday started to look very much like a must-win game. It probably will not come down to playoff positioning between the two Northwest Division teams, but the Jazz will need every win they can get, especially while their schedule is this favorable.

The game was close until the final few minutes, and it looked like the Wolves could still pull off the sweep in this home-and-home set. Thankfully for the visiting Jazz, that did not happen. Bojan Bogdanovic made sure of that with 30 points and six threes, including three crucial makes in the final four minutes as Utah pulled away for the 103-95 win.

Donovan Mitchell added a pair of threes and Mike Conley had one of his own during the late barrage. The 3-pointers knocked down by that trio accounted for the final 18 Utah points of the game.

Coming off two straight losses, the Jazz looked like a very lost team. They still had a strong defensive identity, but the offense is struggling mightily. Prior to this game, the Jazz were rated as the second best defensive team, following the Lakers. But their offense ranks in the same tier as the Knicks, Bulls, Hawks, and behind the Magic, Hornets and Cavs. That’s not a spot you want to be in. Not even in that same galaxy. 

Thankfully, the Jazz came out to play. At least, they did in the first quarter. They took a strong lead, but some sloppy play and an inability to hold down the fort in some stretches allowed the Wolves get back into it. 

Quin Snyder also tried some interesting lineups on Wednesday night to help the Jazz survive the minutes without Rudy Gobert that have been oh-so-rough. Tony Bradley has not been sufficient on the defensive end, so Snyder tried for a second straight game to play Jeff Green as the center. And rather than dropping down like Rudy does, they switched on everything. Much like that other Green guy (Draymond Green, that is) does who plays for the Golden State Warriors. It surprisingly wasn’t that bad.

Even more surprisingly, it wasn’t the Jeff Green minutes on the court that killed the momentum. There was a stretch with Emmanuel Mudiay and Mitchell that proved to be the most disastrous. And speaking of Don, despite 26 points, he remains in a bit of a mini-slump, at least in terms of efficiency and shooting. He hasn’t been getting to the line as often and he’s had three straight games with fewer than 10 makes while putting up 21 or more attempts. He did come up with some fantastic shots late in the fourth that helped seal the game, which is what Mitchell typically does well. 

Meanwhile, Conley is starting to look more and more like the leader that is needed. He was mostly calm and collected and ended with 16 points and 8 assists. There really shouldn’t be much more concern about Mike. He knocked down a key three point shot in the final minutes, as well.

In the end, this was a great redemption game. There were some poor stretches and the Jazz still have some things to work out, but Snyder is trying new things. Dante Exum is back on the floor now¹ and Gobert is still a defensive powerhouse, partially responsible for holding Karl-Anthony Towns to just 14 points in Minnesota. The Jazz will be fine and eventually they will be great, if the fan base can wait just a little bit longer. 

The Jazz have a back-to-back this weekend, with home games against Golden State and New Orleans before they have to travel to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks and begin an Eastern road trip.