As a preamble to Game 3, let’s paint the whole picture here.
Three sick people, kicked out and banned from Vivint Arena, were disproportionately defining all of Jazz nation.
Ja Morant was said to be concerned about the welfare of his parents who otherwise wanted to return to Utah to root for and watch their talented son play basketball, but should they dare?
Jonas Valanciunas said Memphis Grizzlies fans were above such idiotic behavior, the behavior demonstrated by those Jazz fans.
Donovan Mitchell condemned the actions of the few, the quickly identified and punished, and had focused further on his much-studied right ankle as he continued to round into full form, after he had been disallowed to play in Game 1 and then inspired his team in victory as he was allowed to play in Game 2, causing some to wonder whether a lingering feud would fester between Mitchell and Jazz management.
And then, most difficult of all by a million miles, on Saturday morning it became known that Jazz legend Mark Eaton, a friend to every current Jazz player and darn near every human, had died in a bike crash near his Utah home.
Wow.
In the midst of all the aforementioned, from the stupid to the fascinating to the tragic, there was a basketball game to be played, a tipping match in a rough-and-rugged tied-up playoff series, being played at FedEx Forum on Saturday night.
Yeah, there was that, too.
How important was the outcome of this game? The winner of Game 3s in playoff series win the thing 76 percent of the time. And the Jazz liked that number.
What unfolded was worthy of the occasion’s significance, notable for its competitiveness and fire, its intrigue and strategies.
Seeking to find answers to hanging questions facing both the Jazz and the Grizzlies regarding who would at last be able to slow the attack of the opponent, neither having been able to do much of that in the previous contest, a record scoring fest, it was the Jazz who found a reply and a resolution.
After the game tightened, they stopped the Grizz on virtually every possession through those key moments at game’s end.
And they won this third game by the count of 121-111.
Asked to hand out some praise afterward, Quin Snyder said it like this: “We’ve got an unselfish group. … It was the whole group.”
It always is, but two guys stood out in particular: Mitchell and Mike Conley. More on them in a minute.
The Jazz started strong, creating the spacing they desired and the touch, hitting open shots and taking care of the ball, at least at first, preventing Memphis from taking a thousand rebounds and racing up the floor for what they covet most — easy transition baskets. The Jazz led through the first half, at one juncture going up by 15 points, building that substantial margin — and holding onto at least part of it.
Emotions flowed and spilled over in the second quarter when Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins got T’d up, which helped his team not at all. Thereafter, the chippy behavior continued, Rudy Gobert putting a solid body block on Dillon Brooks, and Brooks getting handy with Conley.
The Jazz performance was far from flawless, as they got sloppy before the end of the half, gagging up turnovers, but good enough it was, and it remained.
In those first two quarters, the Jazz hit 11 3-pointers, which atoned for their mounting mistakes, setting the board at 62-51 at the break.
The second half initially brought an onslaught of Valanciunas, who led a Grizzlies comeback, Memphis scoring on six of its first seven possessions. The lead dwindled to four.
But the Jazz fired back.
And fired back.
And fired back.
Then the Grizz fired, as well.
Conley was especially effective, scoring 27 points and tossing eight assists. He hit seven of 10 bombs.
“Mike Conley was unbelievable,” Snyder said.
Mitchell did much of his stellar work late, with the outcome in doubt, as is his habit. All told, he had 29 and five, steadying himself despite hitting only two of 10 3-pointers.
There’s essentially two conclusions to draw from this entire affair — and those conclusions not only answer the hanging questions, but also do something more important. They indicate that, yes, the Jazz are the better defensive team, but also that they are going to win this first-round series.
When the Jazz are at full strength — and by that, we mean with Mitchell on the floor — the Grizzlies cannot outscore them, regardless of the resistance.
The crew of Morant and Brooks and Valanciunas, formidable though it is, isn’t enough.
It matters not how many buckets those guys get. It matters not how much Morant scoots around the floor, how much Brooks goes into hyperdrive or hyper-animation or hyper-cry mode. Due credit, the dude’s good.
“This is a very tough team we’re playing,” said Conley.
But the Jazz are better on attack, even when they partially short-circuit.
In that second half, Memphis clipped the Jazz lead to nothing, in part because of the visitors’ own errors, But then, Utah, upon stumbling and bumbling around, self-corrected.
And blew down the stretch to a 2-1 lead.
As Conley said, the Jazz’s task here is not easy. The Grizzlies are young and on the rise. But … they are not quite ready to take down the Jazz.
They killed the Jazz on the boards, especially late at the offensive end, getting 16 rebounds there. But even that wasn’t enough.
Nor was the fact that Mitchell was inefficient … until he wasn’t.
The Jazz guard finished in the manner that a star would and should. Hitting on a 3-point play, then a 3-pointer, before Gobert scored, then two more free throws made by Mitchell, putting the Jazz up, 117-109 with just more than two minutes remaining. Next came two more made Mitchell free throws, Conley hit a couple from the stripe.
Speaking of his best offensive player, Snyder said: “When Donovan has the ball late, he’s going to make a play.”
He is and he did.
Game over.
And with that, the cloud surrounding the Jazz in this series faded away, while grins broke out, and, somewhere in the clouds overhead, a Jazz legend might have, if you believe in such things, smiled a little, too.
GORDON MONSON hosts “The Big Show” with Jake Scott weekdays from 2-7 p.m. on 97.5 FM and 1280 AM The Zone.
