Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 126-110 series-clinching win over the Memphis Grizzlies from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.
1. How does a 47-point quarter happen?
The Jazz played some of the best offensive basketball we’ve ever seen in that first quarter, scoring 47 points and putting the stamp on the Grizzlies that would ultimately mean their demise.
But how does something like that happen? I wanted to go through that quarter, play-by-offensive-play, so you get an idea of how a quarter like that can come together. Sometimes, we’ll include video, if the play is cool enough.
• The Jazz win the tip, and Donovan Mitchell pull-up jumper from about seven feet. This one came from Mike Conley running pick and roll with Rudy Gobert, collapsing the defense, leaving Mitchell open. He could have taken the three, but instead attacked the closeout and took the mid-ranger. Category: pick and roll to spot-up attack.
• Same thing (Conley pick and roll, pass out to Mitchell), but this time Mitchell gets deeper in the paint. He misses the layup attempt, but Valanciunas had to help on it, and Gobert is able to get the putback points. Category: offensive rebound putback.
• Bojan Bogdanovic runs pick and roll, Grizzlies help, Mitchell open, takes three. Category: pick and roll to spot-up shot.
• Bogdanovic attacks in transition, spins, gets to the rim, forces help, and gets a kickout to Mitchell, who swings it to Conley. Category: transition attack to spot-up shot.
• Bogdanovic runs pick and roll with Gobert, Jaren Jackson Jr. goes under the screen. Whoops. Category: pick and roll pull-up three.
• Mitchell runs pick and roll with Gobert, Dillon Brooks can’t get around the screen in time, Valanciunas is dropping. Pull-up three. Splash. Category: pick and roll pull-up three.
• Bogdanovic runs a hand-off play with Gobert, that basically functions as a pick and roll. Bogey gets all the way to the rim for the layup. Category: pick and roll layup.
• Bogdanovic has the ball in transition, and Royce O’Neale runs behind him — almost like an overlapping run from a fullback in soccer. The Grizzlies don’t guard O’Neale in transition at all, a mistake, and he buries the corner three. Category: transition three.
• Mitchell runs pick and roll with Gobert, gets most of the way to the rim to make a tough floating layup. Category: pick and roll layup.
• Mitchell runs pick and roll with Gobert, the Grizzlies help off of O’Neale, who sinks the three. Category: pick and roll to spot-up shot.
• Mitchell has the ball in transition, and the Grizzlies never form a wall to stop him. He runs right past Brooks for an easy layup. Category: transition layup.
• Mitchell runs pick and roll with Derrick Favors, and thanks to some clever screening from Favors, he gets all the way to the rim for the layup. Category: pick and roll layup.
• Jordan Clarkson (who comes in for Mitchell), just attacks Grayson Allen in isolation and gets an easy layup. Category: isolation layup.
• Bogdanovic has a mismatch on Morant after transition, so he attacks the rim. The Grizzlies help, so Bogdanovic kicks out to O’Neale, who attacks the closeout. O’Neale kicks it back out to Bogdanovic for an easy three. Category: isolation drive and kick.
• Clarkson steals the ball from Valanciunas, Bogdanovic runs the floor and gets an open three from the wing. Category: transition three.
• O’Neale attacks the rim in transition, draws the help, then kicks it to Clarkson, who attacks the closeout to get a layup and gets fouled. Category: transition layup.
• Conley pick and roll with Gobert, which Conley attacks, finds space in the paint, and gets an easy four-foot floater. Category: pick and roll layup.
• Conley pick and roll with Gobert, Grizzlies help, leave Georges Niang wide open. Splash. Category: pick and roll to spot-up three.
• 0.8 seconds left, Grizzlies blow a switch, Conley’s open for the buzzer-beating heave. Category: out of bounds play.
Phew, that was a lot of baskets in just one quarter — only two free-throws were shot during the period, it was just the Jazz getting and making a lot of good looks.
But what did we learn?
First, the Jazz just abused the Grizzlies in pick and roll. Both Mitchell and Conley made every correct read as the Grizzlies helped from the perimeter to defend it. Bogdanovic made some stellar plays too.
Analyst Steve Jones Jr. has a saying: “it’s *automatic* when you show help against the Jazz.” No matter where the help is coming from, Conley and Mitchell are elite at finding the open man, and exploiting it for easy baskets. 25 of the Jazz’s points came from various pick and rolls, just in 12 minutes of play.
Second, transition play is so important for the Jazz. They scored 13 points from getting stops, then running the floor. They’re so, so good at spacing during those moments, and know exactly how to attack the wide gaps that result as the opponent is backpedaling.
Third, it’s not like the Jazz were doing a whole bunch of fancy stuff, or making a lot of hard shots. It’s pretty simple, actually: run the play, read the defense, take what they give you. That the Jazz have a backcourt that is so adept at reading the game is their greatest advantage.
Overall, the 47-point quarter defined the game and the series for the Jazz: they took everything the Grizzlies had, figured out how to beat it, and then took total control. It was very impressive.
2. Jazz’s defense showed real growth in the series
I know, the Grizzlies ended up with 110 points. But the Jazz held Memphis to just 27, 24, and 25 points respectively in the first three quarters, for an offensive rating of just 93.8. In fact, you might be able to argue that the defense was just as good as the offense was in the first three quarters, even though it’ll be the latter that gets all of the plaudits.
Once again, the Jazz were much more aggressive in defending Morant and Brooks than they were in the first few games.
Look at the number of bodies Brooks is seeing as he comes off this not-very-good screen from Valanciunas. O’Neale tracks him through, Conley is helping off of Morant, and Gobert is right there too. Eventually, Brooks attacks Gobert, but O’Neale stays engaged and steals the dump-off pass. This is exactly what the Jazz want to do.
Morant’s a better passer, so you can’t help from the wing as much. But Gobert can still step up. Watch here how he meets Morant as he comes downhill off the screen, preventing the floater from having a chance.
Once you stop those two, the Grizzlies run out of reasonable offensive playmakers pretty quickly. I think you also do have to give credit to the Jazz’s one-on-one defense on Valanciunas, Kyle Anderson, Jaren Jackson Jr., and De’Anthony Melton, none of whom had sparkling offensive series.
Again, the Jazz playing more aggressive help on the Grizzlies’ screen plays shows that they were willing to adapt during the series, and that they were able to play their adapted defense well. That bodes well for their future matchups.
3. How good are the Jazz? An update
You know, after the first four games of the series, I think the Jazz were playing well, but not at their best. Overall, I might have been a little underwhelmed with their play, especially defensively. They will face harder offensive challenges in these playoffs.
Game 5 was a statement, though. They showed pretty total mastery of their craft on both ends of the floor, but their foot down, and said “Nope, you’re not going to win this series. In fact, we’re even tired of you coming close.”
In particular, Mitchell was just elite, making plays at a superstar level. We’ve seen him do this before — just last year he had two 50-point games in a series — but this was controlled Mitchell, reading the defense Mitchell, in total oversight mode. He orchestrated the Jazz’s offense to perfection.
And yet, it might actually be Conley who was the series MVP for the number of incredible decisions he made in Games 2 and 3, especially. Besides the big shots he took, he also just picked the Grizzlies apart through sheer intelligence; Mitchell has the athletic finishes at the rim, but Conley has precision passing on his side. He truly understands how to play pick and roll with Gobert at the highest level now. He said he expects to be back healthy for Game 1 or Round 2, but we’ll see how it unfolds.
Gobert was very good in all of the things he’s typically good at; I think the only realistic quibble you can have is that he didn’t make enough of a difference outside of his realm of the rim. But the Jazz’s plus-minus advantage when he’s on the floor tells the story: the Jazz were +59 with him on the court in this series, and -13 with him off. He’s just so impactful on both ends.
When you have star level play from those guys, you can afford mistakes from the others. Heck, in Game 5, Joe Ingles, Niang, and Clarkson were only okay, not brilliant — but the Jazz ran away with it anyway.
I also think that, at this moment, the Western Conference is setting up well for the Jazz. Both the Lakers and Clippers are down 3-2. I think the Jazz just have more firepower than the Mavs, even though Luka is an all-time great. The Suns present some unique challenges with their two elite guards, but I think they also have some defensive vulnerabilities the Jazz can exploit. I don’t expect the Nuggets or Blazers to win in the second round; both are quite shorthanded.
Vegas agrees, for what it’s worth — they have the Jazz as Western Conference favorites at this moment. We’ll see if that perception changes once they play a tougher team. But for now, the first task is done, and satisfyingly so. They’ll get a well-earned break for the next few days, learn their opponent, and prepare for tougher challenges ahead.
