The most difficult stretch of the Utah Jazz’s first-half schedule got off to a good start Tuesday.
Playing short-handed once again without starting point guard Mike Conley, they had to overcome a slow shooting start. They had to overcome a blistering first half from Jaylen Bown. They had to overcome a late surge from Jayson Tatum.
And they did.
Their 124-108 victory over the Boston Celtics at Vivint Arena was their fifth in a row, and their 16th win in their past 17 games. They’re now 20-5 on the season.
Here are some early observations from the game:
Donovan couldn’t have done it without Shaq
Everyone’s favorite TNT commentator, who a few weeks ago insisted that Donovan Mitchell couldn’t be the guy to take a team to true contention, and that he didn’t do enough to impact games beyond scoring, claimed in Tuesday’s broadcast that he was just a Big Motivator.
Thanks to O’Neal (sarcasm alert), Mitchell pretty much decimated the Celtics in the second half, and finished with 36 points on 12-of-23 shooting, plus nine assists and four rebounds.
He was making a difference even into the final minutes — pushing the ball in transition off a Boston miss, catching the Celtics unaware, and locating Joe Ingles for a big 3-pointer in the corner. Moments later, he drained his own 3, a rainbow from waaaaay downtown that made it 115-104 with 2:07 to play, bringing the house down and effectively ending the game.
Third quarters remain dominant for the Jazz
As Jazz radio play-by-play man and stat savant David Locke pointed out during halftime: “Jazz have been the #1 team in 3rd quarters with an offensive rating of 126. Celtics rank 25th in 3rd quarter defense. Lets see if it holds.”
It held.
The Jazz dropped 42 points in the period on 12-for-20 shooting and a 13 of 14 effort at the free-throw line. As a result, after leading by just a point at halftime, they surged ahead by as many as 14, and went into the fourth up 90-79.
“Our guys talk to each other … they’re figuring stuff out amongst themselves,” Quin Snyder said afterward. “… More than anything there’s pride and a level of focus. We had a couple breakdowns [early in the game] and we didn’t let the impact us — we started defending better.”
JC’s streak continues
Sometimes you can tell if Jordan Clarkson is feeling it or not by the way he moves. He was struggling to a four-point, 2-for-10 start against the Celtics, when someone pointed out that his streak of 50 consecutive games of making a 3-pointer was in danger.
Just like that, he came off a screen, sprinted to the corner, fired up a contested, fadeaway 3, absorbed the contact, and accepted the mobbing congratulations of his teammates after the ball dropped through the net. Seconds later, after a Celtics turnover, the visibly-energized Clarkson went behind another screen and buried another 3.
His aggressive play continued for a time, but then, in the fourth quarter, it appeared some doubt crept back in. The Jazz ran a pick-and-roll to get him an open look at a 3, they executed it to perfection, and he hesitated, then passed it up.
Maybe Ingles stole JC’s aggression?
Ingles is usually one of the Jazz’s worst offenders when it comes to passing up open looks, but on Tuesday night, he was getting after it.
For starters, 12 field-goal attempts. Beyond that, 11 of them were 3-point tries. And beyond that, he was getting into the paint and getting to the free-throw line — where he went 9 of 10.
All in all, he finished with 24 points and six assists.
