Three thoughts on the Jazz’s 117-109 win against the Boston Celtics from Salt Lake Tribune beat writer Andy Larsen.
1. Fascinating clutch minutes see Utah come out on top
Donovan Mitchell had a roller-coaster, game-defining last stint of the game.
He entered with 7:37 left in the 4th quarter with the Jazz up nine points. Mitchell’s iffy plays early in the stint in large part cost the Jazz their big margin, and then he got it all back in the end.
Early on, I thought he was pressing, trying to do too much against Marcus Smart. This is a bad shot on about three different levels.
He also had a rough turnover, getting trapped in the corner then throwing the ball to the Celtics for an easy run out.
In particular, I thought one sequence was fascinating. The Jazz were coming off a couple of tough possessions in which Marcus Smart had really got the better of them with his perimeter aggression. Mitchell, in particular, was struggling mightily.
Mitchell comes up to get the ball, and claps, even. But right then, it’s instead Conley that runs pick and roll with Gobert. Conley drives and finds a wide open Bojan Bogdanovic, who misses the shot.
Next play, Mitchell gets the ball. This time, he takes an early shot clock three from deep, when Smart goes under the screen. It goes in.
I think in a vacuum, you’d probably rather have the Bogdanovic three than the Mitchell three. But the latter went in, and the former didn’t.
But I’m fascinated with Mitchell clapping for the ball on the previous play. Did he really want the ball, and Conley made an executive decision to run the pick and roll himself? Or was it part of a ruse, in which Mitchell being 40 feet from the basket allows the Jazz to get an open shot while playing 4-on-4?
Regardless, Mitchell was asked by another reporter about the whole “hero ball vs. good plays” conversation after the game.
“It’s called hero ball to some, but not to me. It’s the shots I work on, shots that I spend hours and hours on in the summer. Whether they fall or not is about whether I execute, and sometimes it’s just make or miss,” Mitchell said. “But at the end of the day, it’s about making the simple play. And I’ve gotten progressively better at that, and I can get better at that.”
That, to me, is the difference. I wrote about Mitchell’s pick-and-roll game here, but the numbers are clear: he’s most efficient when he’s finding open teammates on the perimeter or taking the dribble jumper. Those are simple plays, but effective ones. And so long as he’s being a hero at making those plays, I’m all in favor of hero ball.
2. Bogdanovic’s struggles, and finding a way to contribute
Bojan Bogdanovic had about the worst first six minutes you can have as a basketball player. He alone committed three turnovers in those minutes, two of which ended up with Celtics runout baskets. He also played some lack-luster defense, missed shots, and then didn’t hustle after a rebound, which ended up being Celtics ball.
It was the kind of stretch that would have been disappointing for a G-League player, let alone someone of Bogdanovic’s caliber. And it came so soon after his awful performance against the Warriors.
Halftime came, and Quin Snyder called the first two plays of the second half to be post-ups for Bogdanovic. This was a statement: “we need you, Bogey.”
He hit the first shot from the post-up, a fadeaway mid-ranger that he’s actually pretty efficient at. And on the next play, when the defense collapsed, he kicked it out for an open three.
Bogdanovic’s line from tonight still isn’t great: 12 points, 3-9 FG, 1-5 3P, two assists, and those three turnovers. But Bogdanovic and Snyder turned a problematic performance in the first half into an average one in the second half.
And I think that trend was important. The Jazz are much better when Bogdanovic is a truly dangerous weapon, and so I think it’s worth spending the time and energy in getting him playing at his best. In particular, showing belief in him, giving him opportunities for which he’s well-suited, and keeping decisions simple for him while he struggles can set him up well for success.
“I have so much confidence in him,” Snyder said. “He was great tonight. And I just want him to play. Don’t think, just play and be aggressive. And that’s what he did.”
3. Jordan Clarkson — heat check avoider
Wait, what? Yes, you read that right: Jordan Clarkson, who has had a reasonably long career in which everyone’s working assumption was that he would shoot every time he possibly could and especially if he was feeling it, made an awesome play in avoiding a heat check three, finding the open man.
In the second quarter, Clarkson had just taken and made two threes in a row, essentially lifting the Jazz up out of a slow start by himself. I absolutely think he’s going to take a fadeaway three over Kemba Walker here.
But no! He drives, taking advantage of Walker’s aggression, forces the rotation, and then found the open shooter with a terrific pass.
Does Conley make the shot? No! But who cares? This is a highlight.
I bring it up because Clarkson had actually reverted to being a little one-dimensional recently — and his coaching staff had noticed. In fact, Clarkson revealed postgame that he and Snyder talked about Clarkson’s need to make plays for others after the Warriors game.
“We had a conversation about it, you know? It was just about just making plays, what it does for the team and all that. So I just took it to heart,” Clarkson simply said.
It showed. Clarkson ended up with three assists, but could have had more — see above. And his dump-off pass to Gobert for the and-one dunk was one of the most important plays of the game, where he used his driving ability to get his team the maximum number of points in a possession. It was good stuff from Clarkson, and he was a big part of the Jazz’s win.
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