“Mike bounced back! Conley wins the ball to help Jazz hold the Memphis rally

SALT LAKE CITY – In the opener of his long-awaited debut All-Star, Mike Conley faced Chris Paul for the opening of the second quarter.

He lost the jump.

“I wasn’t prepared for the tip,” Conley said after that game. “I was told I was going in there and getting ready to babysit someone and I look back (and the bench said), ‘Mike, go jump.’ I wish I had earned the tip. “

You can now consider that a practice is performed for a much larger practice.

With 1.9 seconds left of Utah’s 117-114 win over Memphis on Friday, Conley lined up against Ja Morant for a jump ball. The stake was simple: if he got it, the Jazz would win. If he lost, the Grizzlies might have one last chance to tie the game.

The Jazz clearly assumed it would be the latter. So much so that there wasn’t a single jazz player behind Conley. It turns out that Conley still has some hops. The veteran point guard stood up and won the tip against the top-flight Morant, and Derrick Favors quickly scrambled to get the rebound and secure the victory.

“Mike bounced back!” Jordan Clarkson said.

“I haven’t seen Mike jump this high since Ohio State,” added Donovan Mitchell.

Rudy Gobert joked, “Normally I would tell him to ride fast like me, but I lost mine today so I couldn’t give him any advice – he wouldn’t take me seriously.”

That latest game officially thwarted a furious Grizzlies rally in the fourth quarter, giving Utah the first round of a bizarre scheduling oddity between Memphis. The two teams will face each other three times in four games, with the second round taking place on Saturday at Vivint Arena.

Ahead of the game, the Jazz spoke about the odd midseason streak with the Grizzlies. Gobert said it was going to be physical, and Georges Niang warned that Memphis would not leave easily. There was nothing particularly noteworthy about these quotes – just the usual cookie-cutter sayings about an opposing team.

Then the game arrived.

The closing seconds saw Kyle Anderson trying to fly over Rudy Gobert to get a late pivot rebound (and get plenty of body), and Morant trying to get the ball out of Conley, sending the Jazz point guard to the ground in the process.

Physical? Check.

Never say die? Check and verify.

“It’s a real challenge because you won’t be able to stick to one game plan to beat this team,” Niang said before the game. “The way we keep them tonight will be different from the way we keep them tomorrow because the teams are smart.”

Memphis had better have a new game plan on Saturday in the second inning because what the Grizzlies were doing against Donovan Mitchell certainly didn’t work out.

Guard Jazz All-Star had 35 points, six assists and five rebounds. He did so early, scoring 19 points in the first half as the Jazz took a big lead. And he fell behind, scoring Utah’s last 10 points to help delay the Memphis rally.

Speaking of this rally, the Jazz will also have things to work on in the rematch.

Utah (33-11) led by as many as 21 points in the first quarter, resembling the team that traveled the rest of the league earlier this season. Mitchell had done it, Bojan Bogdanovic had found a rhythm entering the painting, and Gobert was finishing all of the pick and roll.

The Jazz, who occupy the top of the NBA standings due to their 3-point prowess, only achieved six 3-point points in the first half. Memphis made a concerted effort to remove the deep ball, so Utah came inside.

Gobert had 25 points on 11 of 14 shots; each of those hits was within five feet of the hoop.

“They were staying at home with shooters so it was hard to get those kick-outs,” jazz coach Quin Snyder said.

Gobert has improved as a passer this season and has managed to find teammates in the corners as he rolls to the rim. The Grizzlies did not come to stop him, he simply marked himself.

“When they do drop cover and keep the guys on shooters, it’s usually going to be a two-on-one every time,” Gobert said.

But after all that had gone well, a 13-5 run at Memphis in the closing minutes of the game meant the Jazz had to sweat for final possession.

Dillon Brooks, who had made three consecutive 3s in the fourth quarter, attempted a draw 3 which rebounded. Conley went to the ground to secure the rebound but was tied up for a jump ball with 1.9 seconds left.

Conley didn’t lose the jump this time.

“I think it’s a rolling bet in the locker room: we’re still waiting for him to dunk,” Clarkson said. “So we should have bet on him too to win a jump ball. He’s wearing Jordan – they only sign people who dunk and do stuff like that. I think Mike is the only one staying on the. lot, so hopefully he gets a dunk soon and we’re making some money with that. “

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