Utah Jazz: The return of Iso Joe and Big Al was glorious

Former Utah Jazz players Joe Johnson, Al Jefferson and DeShawn Stevenson were all in Salt Lake City over the weekend, balling out for the BIG3.

There’s no doubting it: we’ve officially reached the dog days of the NBA calendar; the mid-summer doldrums where there’s no basketball to watch and nothing is happening across the Association. This is especially true in Salt Lake City, where the Utah Jazz have essentially had their roster for next season set for multiple weeks now.

Praise the basketball gods that we have the BIG3 to get us through the bad times. Ice Cube’s 3-on-3 league has been the perfect summer remedy for the hoops-starved masses for the last three years.

In particular, the types that are willing to get freaky with their hardwood obsession and/or the old-schoolers — people who gripe about a lack of physical play, think the league was better 15 or 20 years ago and still spin yarns about guys like Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf lighting up the score board — will find their solace here.

Over the weekend, though, longtime Jazz fans in Salt Lake City were the ones that got their fix.

The BIG3 made its first-ever stop in town on Saturday and a bevy of Jazz alums were part of the action at Vivint Arena. Former Jazzmen Joe Johnson, Al Jefferson and DeShawn Stevenson were the headliners; joining them were Brandon Rush and Andre Owens.

The big game for the Utah faithful was undoubtedly the Triplets taking on the Ball Hogs in Game 2 of the three-game event, which featured Johnson and Jefferson taking on Stevenson. And while it was a lopsided affair, with the 5-1 Triplets dropping the Ball Hogs to 0-6 in a 51-34 laugher, the Jazz contingent was grooving.

In other words, if you went to the arena looking for Iso Joe to make it rain from deep or Big Al to work his man on the left block, then drop in push shots over his head, you got what you paid for.

Johnson continued his strong play in the league, dropping a game-high 21 points and nabbing four steals to pace his team to the win. He also connected from 4-point range (yep, that’s a thing) along the way.

Johnson currently leads the BIG3 in scoring at just under 22 points per game.

Meanwhile, Jefferson added 12 points and seven boards, and Stevenson notched 12 and six in the losing effort.

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With their win, the Triplets gained a half-game advantage on Power (4-1) for first place overall in the BIG3.

The best Jazz alum on the day, may have been Rush — who outperformed any effort he registered during his rough 2013-14 campaign with the Jazz. He finished with 23 points for the Aliens (2-4) in their loss to the Bivouac (3-3).

Next up for the BIG3 will be games in Rosemont, Illinois and Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

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