Utah Jazz: 3 strengths against Grizzlies foretell further playoff success

Utah Jazz guard Mike Conley Jr. (Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports)
Utah Jazz guard Mike Conley Jr. (Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports)
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Utah Jazz playing string music

The Jazz came into the NBA Playoffs as the hottest shooting team in the league. They led the entire league in the regular season with their 16.7 made 3-pointers per game.

And in their first-round matchup with the Grizzlies, the Jazzmen were able to keep up their prolific outside shooting.

Against Memphis, Utah saw five of its players shoot over 40 percent from deep. In fact, the Jazz shot even higher from the field and from long range than they did in the regular season, connecting on 48.8 percent of their attempts from the field and 40.6 percent from 3-point land versus the Grizzlies.

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In doing so, it became apparent that their historic shooting during the regular season was far from a fluke.

Now, the No. 1 seed Utah Jazz will hope to maintain their hot hands when the No. 4 seed Los Angeles Clippers travel to Salt Lake City for Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals at 8 p.m. MT Tuesday.

Again, it should also help their chances going forward to continue seeing elite-level production from their All-Star backcourt — not to mention, of course, two-time All-Star center Rudy Gobert — while forcing key weapons on the opposition into foul trouble.