Utah Jazz: Hayward is Mr. Almost-Perfect, ESPN Fails

Gordon Hayward comes up just short of a perfect night. Also–ESPN is throwing some serious shade at the Utah Jazz.

Tuesday night’s 117-114 OT win over the Houston Rockets was a big one for the Utah Jazz. With the victory, the team jumps ahead of James Harden and crew for the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoff race and has plenty of good mojo heading into a Thursday showdown with the San Antonio Spurs.

It was a hard-earned win and multiple Jazzmen played a part in making it happen. Chris Johnson‘s hustle and defense were incredible. Trey Burke came up huge in the fourth quarter, while Rodney Hood owned overtime. Trevor Booker‘s fire, Shelvin Mack‘s play and Derrick Favors‘ domination down low were also key.

But none had a game like Gordon Hayward. The Jazz star approached perfection, making six of seven from the field, 13 of 15 from the line and scoring 28 points. Think about that for just a second–Utah’s Mr. Almost-Perfect scored 28 points on only seven field goal attempts. SEVEN.

This is a historic level of efficiency. In fact, dating back to the 1983-84 season, only one player has scored more points in a game on eight or fewer field goal attempts than Hayward did. That player was Chauncey Billups, who, as a member of the Detroit Pistons, scored 29 points on seven FGA in a 2006 game against the Washington Wizards.

Mr. Big Shot had to sink 18 of 19 foul shots to get to that mark. It was an incredible performance from a player who, for my money, is a future Hall of Famer, and one that Hayward nearly replicated.

Of course, with Hayward narrowly missing out on a flawless night, the title of Mr. Perfect remains firmly in the court of WWE Hall of Famer Curt Hennig–

Still, Hayward’s big night–which also included seven rebounds, five assists and a steal–remains a milestone moment in his career with the Jazz.

Jazz Get No Respect from the Worldwide Leader

If Hayward’s performance against the Rockets was awesome, ESPN’s reporting of the game probably falls onto the negative side of the awesomeness scale. Shortly after the Jazz won, the Worldwide Leader threw out a tweet declaring that Houston had prevailed in the game.

It was quickly deleted, but here’s a screen shot–

While the four-letter network corrected that particular mistake, Harden’s 42-point performance remained the story of the game on SportsCenter. Not Hayward’s (quite literally) historic effort, not the playoff ramifications and certainly not the Jazz win–

Sadly, this whole situation is wholly unsurprising. Maybe if the Jazz can secure a spot in the NBA Playoffs, ESPN will stop throwing shade at our team (unlikely).

Next: Beverley, Booker Up to Shenanigans in Jazz-Rockets Game

Richard Smith Makes Big Impact in Chinese Player’s Life

Finally, Les Carpenter has penned an incredible article about Richard Smith, the Jazz Executive Director of Basketball Operations. Appearing in the U.S. edition of The Guardian, Carpenter’s story chronicles how Smith helped launch the career of a six-foot-seven female basketball player from China named Chen Yue.

Smith met the girl at a Junior NBA basketball clinic in 2009, where he rewarded her hard work and hustle with a spot on a team that would go on to compete with other Junior NBA squads. This recognition triggered in her a belief that she could pursue her basketball dreams.

Chen Yue is now a member of the California Golden Bears women’s basketball team and is the first Chinese-born woman to play college basketball in the U.S.

It’s an incredible story and can be read here–

How an NBA exec helped fulfill a 6ft 7in woman from China’s American dream