The Jazz Survive Late Rally from the Warriors

Conley helped the Jazz dodge a bullet. (Noah Graham via espn.com)

Jazz fans were expecting an easy victory on Friday’s game against the 3-14 Golden State Warriors at Vivint SmartHome Arena. Instead, they had to sweat a close finish as Utah held off the Warriors’ late run to win 113-109.

The game started out pretty back-and-forth, the first quarter ending with only a two-point Utah lead. The Jazz extended the lead in the second quarter, finishing the first half ahead by fifteen. The Jazz maintained a double-digit lead throughout the third quarter, but the true excitement came at the end of the game, both on and off the court.

With 8:59 left in the fourth quarter, Donovan Mitchell made one of his 12 shots, a deep mid-range jumper, to extend the lead to 19 points, 102-83. A short time later, Jazz coach Quin Snyder decided to reinsert his starters after some quality minutes from reserves Emmanuel Mudiay, Jeff Green and Tony Bradley. With the starters back in the game, up 18 points and around eight minutes left, the game should have been pretty much over.

Or at least that is what fans thought.

The Warriors began a short run, that ended up turning into a major comeback. Utah failed to score for over four and a half minutes, allowing an undermanned and young Golden State team to claw their way back.

Alec Burks, the former Utah Jazz player and one of just eight Warriors suited up for the contest, led the way on a 26-9 run that brought the game within two points. Luckily for the Jazz, they were able to preserve the lead, thanks to free throws by Mitchell and Mike Conley in the final half minute, and a series of defensive possessions.

After Burks had scored nine points in the quarter against the Jazz, former teammate Rudy Gobert blocked his shot attempt with four seconds remaining, but was called for a foul on the play. Gobert urged Snyder to use his coach’s challenge to attempt to overturn the call, and sure enough, Gobert’s foul was wiped away and he was credited instead with a seventh block. The overturned call led to a jump ball that the Jazz won and then ran the clock out for the win. 

All eight healthy Warriors played at least 22 minutes. Interestingly enough, seven out of the eight ended up finishing in double digits and seven out of the eight have been drafted/entered the NBA within the last five years.

This Warriors team is young and inexperienced. What does this mean for the Utah Jazz? Once again, we see the season long predicament of this Utah team often being unable to put teams away, this time against a poor opponent. The Jazz shot well from the floor, finishing at 50.6% from the field, and outrebounded the Warriors 56-41.

Conley and Mitchell combined for 56 points, but the Jazz struggled turning the ball over. They finished with 21 total turnovers compared to only nine by Golden State. With a 19-point lead and eight minutes left, the starting lineup in the game, against a team devastated by injuries (and the worst record in the NBA), the Utah Jazz must be able to ice the game and extinguish any late game runs. Most importantly the Jazz were still able to secure the win in front of the home crowd. Even if the end of the game was sloppy, this cross by Mitchell was not. Watch your ankles Callie Stein.

ICYMI: Mike & Don combine for 57 in last night’s W ⤵️

» https://t.co/hBRdgtmqNy pic.twitter.com/q9rd2OdAO2

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) November 23, 2019

Stat of the night: Although Mitchell and Conley were dominant on the offensive end, Gobert finished the game with eight points, 19 rebounds and seven blocks. Yes, you read those numbers right.

Briefly: After the game the teams were forced to exit the locker room due to a suspicious package left in the stadium. Luckily everyone was able to evacuate, and no one was harmed. Officers reported that the package turned out to be a toolbox.

Up next: The Jazz face the New Orleans Pelicans tonight, hoping to end the weekend with back-to-back wins in Salt Lake City.