Utah Jazz can play in the clutch
If the Jazz were gonna prevent Brooklyn from taking back the lead, they absolutely needed someone to take over the game down the stretch, and that’s what Mitchell did last night.
Donovan Mitchell had 14 points in the fourth quarter alone, saving what would otherwise have been another quiet night for him. Coming into the fourth quarter, he only had 11 points compared to Irving’s 20, and it was clear that Kyrie was winning that matchup.
Royce O’Neale had four rebounds, all defensive rebounds in the final quarter of play. As I’ve been saying all season, he is a critical component to the Jazz’s much improved play in the clutch for sealing defensive stops.
Rudy Gobert grabbed a couple offensive rebounds late in the game to extend offensive possessions and milk the clock. Just like he did in Washington D.C on Sunday night, Gobert remained a big scoring threat at the rim which commanded defensive attention in the fourth quarter.
It was a great team effort by all five guys on the floor to seal their tenth straight victory. What I’m most impressed by the Jazz’s clutch play this year is how they’ve been able to win tight games on the road.
The phrase “defense travels” is supposed to mean you can always count on defense to win games in any arena any night. But this season, and especially the last 16 games, Utah has shown the ability to win close games on the road.
- Won by two points in New Orleans
- Won by four points in Chicago
- Won by five points in Atlanta
In addition to that they played several games where they closed out the game on the road with a strong fourth quarter.
- Won by seven points in Charlotte
- Won by 13 points in Los Angeles
- Won by 11 points in Washington
- Won by 11 points in Brooklyn
Despite the final score looking like a comfortable win in those last four examples, the game could’ve very well gone either way up until the final few minutes. This newfound niche to close out games strong will come in really handily in April and May.