The Utah Jazz picked up a monumental 105-103 win over the Boston Celtics on Monday night. In doing so, they proved one positively undeniable quality of this team: that this group of guys isn't going to go down without a fight.
I'm not trying to make the argument that the Jazz are going to end up sneaking into the playoffs or the play-in this season. But what I am saying is that it would have been the easiest thing in the world to lie down and accept a loss in your third game in four nights on Monday in Boston. And yet, Utah pulled off something truly incredible that should tell us a lot about what this team is truly made of.
The Jazz appeared to have a somewhat winnable game against Charlotte on their schedule on Sunday evening. But a flurry of mistakes put them down early, leading to a blowout defeat. With a much tougher opponent looming the night after, it seemed an opportunity had been wasted. Will Hardy was certainly not thrilled with what he saw against the Hornets.
The Jazz defied all odds with their win in Boston
"Everybody has to do a little bit more and everybody has to be a little bit sharper," Hardy said, following the loss in Charlotte. "It doesn't help when you don't make any shots. 21% from three is not representative of our team shooting the ball.
"But I felt like our energy just sort of fell off there at the end of the first beginning of the second, and then we were kind of a half step behind. And there's no excuse for that ... Our mentality has to shift a little bit in terms of the energy that we're willing to give to the game. And I have no doubt that our locker room will self correct, and we'll be ready to go tomorrow."
That vote of confidence in his group was an excellent foreshadowing for what would come on Monday night. It's one thing when a coach says something like this, but it's another when the team actually goes out and proves him correct. Putting up this kind of gritty performance on the second night of a back-to-back speaks volumes about what this Jazz team is about.
It's this kind of early win that can be indicative of how the rest of a season might go. Utah might not be world-beaters, but they certainly have the intangibles of a team that's difficult to beat. That's something you can't teach, and I have a feeling this team's competitive nature is going to be something to remember.