by Kimya Oliver
The Heat defeated the Jazz 118-115.
The Crossover: Utah Jazz by the Numbers
In the first quarter, both teams were competing at a high level. The Jazz struggled from three, shooting 20 percent and shooting 9-21 (43 percent) from the field. The Heat led 27-24 after the first quarter of play.
The Heat went on a 16-10 run to open the second quarter, 43-34. With six minutes left in the first half, the Jazz continued to trail 45-34. The Jazz defense couldn’t stop the offensive momentum of the Miami Heat. The first half ended with the Jazz trailing 55-52.
To begin the second half, the Heat went on a 7-2 run in the first two minutes to go up 62-54. Jimmy Butler couldn’t be stopped this quarter shooting six of eight (75 percent) from the field. The Heat continued to drive to the basket to get easy layups. The third quarter ended with the Jazz trailing 87-78.
With the final quarter on play, the Jazz couldn’t stop the Heat’s offense until the last five minutes of the game, 91-110. The Jazz went on a 22-5 run to cut the lead to two points, 113-115, with 20 seconds left to play. At this point in the game, the Jazz were hoping that the Heat would miss free-throws, but the Heat as an 83 percent free-throw shooting team had other plans.
Tyler Herro did miss one free throw in the final 20 seconds to make the game interesting though. Mitchell had a chance to hit the tying three but it fell just short as he appeared to be knocked off balance. The Heat threw the ball to the other end and ran out the clock.
Coming off an injury, Dovovan Mitchell led the Jazz with 37 points, which is also his season high so far. Mike Conley had 18 points while Bojan Bogdanvoić had 16 points.
The Daily Double-Double
Rudy Gobert struggled tonight scoring only eight points and grabbing eight rebounds. Defensively, the Heat was denying Gobert the ball inside. Gobert shot four of five (80 percent) from the field and missed his only two free throw attempts.
However, Hassan Whiteside played well against his former team with eight rebounds, six points and a block of his own. He played down the stretch of this game as Coach Snyder seemed to want to try something new.
Traveling: Jazz Struggle in first of Two games in Florida
Jordan Clarkson also struggled, shooting 3-9 from the field (33 percent) and 1-6 (16 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Jazz went 43-83 (51.8 percent) from the field, 15-45 (33.3 percent) from three, and 14-19 (73.7 percent) from the charity stripe.
Defensively, the Jazz played great defense. Utah had three blocks, ten steals, and caused 14 turnovers.
In order for the Jazz to win games and stay consistent, one key is Jordan Clarkson needs to be consistent from the floor. In the previous game, without Donovan Mitchell, he had a stellar game ending with 30 points versus this game only having seven points.
Another key is Rudy Gobert scoring 12-16 points per game including his usual high rate of grabbing rebounds. Being 7’1”, it would help if Gobert blocked more shots as well.
Bounce Pass: Up Next
The Jazz will be traveling to Orlando to play the Magic on November 7 at 4 p.m. MST.
Featured image courtesy Lynne Sladky, Associated Press