Utah Jazz alumni: Iso Joe, Big Al grab top seed in BIG3 playoffs

Former Utah Jazz players Joe Johnson and Al Jefferson, along with the rest of their teammates on Triplets, have grabbed the top overall seed in the BIG3 playoffs.

If you haven’t been keeping up with the BIG3 this summer, you’ve really been missing out. That’s particularly true for Utah Jazz fans due to the fact that two former fan favorites just so happen to play for the league’s best team, Triplets.

The two players I speak of – Joe Johnson and Al Jefferson – both received overwhelming ovations when the BIG3 stopped in Salt Lake City a few weeks back. Al Jefferson had some exciting seasons with the Jazz, though unfortunately his potential there was cut short as the team took a very different direction following the Deron Williams drama. And Joe Johnson immortalized himself in Jazz history by hitting an incredible game winner in Game 1 of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs against the LA Clippers.

Their Triplets squad has been the most exciting BIG3 team all season long, as they finished with a 7-1 record, their sole loss coming in closely contested fashion to the third-seeded team (and largely recognized as the second-best team), Power. That stirring record included some come-from-behind victories and a couple of four-point game winners (courtesy of Joe Johnson) on the year.

Of the two, his shot against the 3-Headed Monsters while trailing 46-48 was undoubtedly his best highlight out of many of the season. You can check it out for yourself below:

By finishing with the best record in the BIG3 regular season, Triplets nabbed the top seed overall for the playoffs, which begin this upcoming Sunday, August 25th. Joe Johnson and Iso Joe will be in for a challenge, however, as they’ll face the very same 3-Headed Monsters team that nearly defeated them a couple weeks back.

The 3-Headed Monsters, led by head coach Gary Payton and the likes of Rashard Lewis and Mario Chalmers on the floor, ended the year extremely hot. They upset Power in the final week of the regular season, which was a requirement for them if they wanted to make the playoffs, destroyed a dangerous Enemies team the week before and narrowly lost to Triplets prior to that. They also challenged the second-seeded Killer Threes earlier in the season as well.

In other words, even though the 3-Headed Monsters, who needed help in the form of the formerly winless Ball Hogs toppling Bivouac in the final week, are the fourth seed and only narrowly  made the playoffs due to tiebreaker over the other 4-4 teams, they’re definitely a force to be reckoned with. They’ll be a challenging opponent for Triplets to handle in the opening round.

But if Joe Johnson, who just set a new BIG3 single-season scoring record with 175 points (21.875 per game average) and teammates Al Jefferson, Jannero Pargo, Sergerio Gipson, Jamario Moon and Alan Anderson and head coach Lisa Leslie can maintain their regular season success, they should have great odds for reaching the championship on September 1.

It’s always difficult to make it through the long NBA offseason, but the BIG3 has certainly helped things move faster in that regard by providing a great way to fill that basketball fix. Considering that former Jazzmen Iso Joe and Big Al lead the league’s best team, Utah Jazz fans should have no trouble getting excited for the two upcoming weeks of BIG3 postseason.

Triplets take on 3-Headed Monsters on August 25th at 1:00 PM MT on CBS.