The Utah Jazz just finished off a grueling pair of games against the Phoenix Suns. The story wasn’t much different in either. The Jazz were short handed, they fought hard, and they came up short anyway.
In fact, the margin of defeat hardly even changed. They lost the first contest 115-109, and last night’s game 105-97. For those keeping track, that’s the difference of a field goal.
There is a silver lining in these pair of losses. The Jazz kept it close with the best team in the NBA without their two best players. In the first half of last night’s contest, that didn’t even look achievable.
Utah Jazz fuel furious comeback
The Suns led by as much as 39-18 in the second quarter. This game looked like it was in the books. Without Donovan Mitchell or Rudy Gobert, it would have been understandable if these Utah Jazz were simply outmatched.
They weren’t. Instead, they worked diligently to trim that lead, and went into the second half with a manageable 56-50 deficit.
Obviously, they didn’t come away with the win. Regardless, they kept this game competitive to the final buzzer. Without their 2 most important players against the Suns, that’s commendable.
Utah Jazz veterans deliver
Unlike some contests of late, the Jazz did have a number of rotation mainstays for this one. They generally did what they could to keep this game close.
Jordan Clarkson and Hassan Whiteside did their best Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert impressions. The former finished with 26 points on 9/19 shooting from the field and 6/12 shooting from downtown. The latter finished with 16 points on 7/10 shooting from the field, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks.
It’s hard not to harp on Clarkson’s increased productivity in Mitchell’s absence. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year is averaging 21.0 points while shooting 45.7% from the field and 39.0% from downtown in 8 games without his superstar running mate.
Whether the two can play together is a matter of debate. Whether Clarkson can fill in for Mitchell when he’s hurt is not. He’s consistently proving that this season.
Luckily for Utah Jazz fans, Mike Conley can play with either. He finished last night’s game with 16 points and 10 assists. Conley is a low usage, high efficiency facilitator and floor spacer by trade. In Mitchell’s absence, he appropriately increased his usage.
Plenty of Jazzmen delivered last night. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.
One Utah Jazz veteran disappears
On several occasions this season, we’ve noted that Bojan Bogdanovic has a tendency to step up when his starrier teammates aren’t available. That was not the case last night.
Bogey finished with 7 points on 3/13 shooting from the field. Simply put, he couldn’t get it going. He created the looks he’s known to create, but his shot wouldn’t fall.
There’s nothing to worry about here. Every player in the NBA is entitled to an off night, and Bogdanovic hasn’t made a habit of delivering them for the Jazz. The timing was just unfortunate: if he’d been his usual self, there would be an unexpected Utah Jazz victory to celebrate today.
Utah Jazz can’t match Suns’ firepower
For as good as several Jazzmen were last night, none of them stacked up to Devin Booker. He finished this one with 43 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
Impressively, Booker didn’t even shoot in the 4th quarter until there was 3:43 remaining. He carried the Suns to that point, and passed the baton to Chris Paul to finish the race.
The Point God cooked the Jazz in quintessential Chris Paul fashion in the final frame. His ability to create space for his mid-range shot repeatedly continues to mystify NBA defenses.
All told, this dynamic Suns backcourt was too much for an undermanned Jazz squad.
Once again, the Utah Jazz should take some pride in pushing the Suns to the brink without their best players. Once again, the record books won’t make allowances for circumstance.