by Kimya Oliver
The Utah Jazz fell short to the Minnesota Timberwolves by a final score of 126-106.
The Crossover: Utah Jazz by the Numbers
Mike Conley sized his defender up and made a pull-up jump shot inside the arc to start the first quarter.
The Jazz opened the first quarter on an 11-5 run. The Wolves gained offensive momentum and took a three-point lead with three minutes left in the quarter.
Hassan Whiteside set a screen to get Conley open. Conley pump-faked to get his defender in the air, and hit the outside shot. The Jazz trailed 26-20 after the first quarter.
Conley made a handoff pass to Eric Paschall for the shot from deep to open the second quarter.
Off a bad pass, Royce O’Neale stole the ball and the Jazz went the other way. Jordan Clarkson went to the corner and sank the tough fadeaway three-pointer.
Joe Ingles drove to the basket and badly injured his left knee. Ingles was helped off the court and didn’t put any pressure on the knee.
Whiteside made a quick turnaround hook shot to cut the Wolves’ lead to 41-40 with 3:30 left in the quarter. The Jazz found a bit of daylight and took a 48-41 lead, but the Wolves went on an 11-0 run to close the second quarter leading 52-48.
Conley came up with the steal and found Bojan Bogdanovic open in the corner, but couldn’t sink the long-distance shot. However, Conley grabbed the offensive rebound and found O’Neale open for the second chance shot from beyond the arc to start the offense in the third quarter.
The Wolves opened the third on an 11-7 run to go up 63-55. Clarkson made a clean pass to Rudy Gay who was cutting to the basket for the layup.
The Wolves continued to attack inside the paint. Conley made a long pass to Bogdanovic for the open three-pointer to try and chip away at the deficit. The third quarter ended with the Wolves leading 92-75.
Whiteside did what he does best and made a hook shot to open the final quarter to play. The Wolves continued to get stops and poke balls loose to create turnovers.
The Daily Double-Double
Bogdanovic the Jazz with 23 points and Conley had 22 points.
Bounce Pass: Up Next
The Jazz will be facing the Denver Nuggets on February 2, 2022 at 8 p.m. MST.
Featured image courtesy Matt York, Associated Press