by Alma Bean
Feature Image: Photo by Rebecca Blackwell of AP Photo.
The Utah Jazz (33-35) takes on the Miami Heat (36-33) for their final meeting of the season to end a six-game road trip.
Bienvenido a Miami
Utah continued its struggles with turnovers to start this game. In the first quarter, Utah committed six turnovers leading to 10 points for Miami. With Lauri Markkanen (38/8/1) having a slow start, Utah’s “next man up” mentality came into play from an unexpected player. Simone Fontecchio (23/5/1) managed to score 11 points on 4/5 (80%) shooting from the field in just over six minutes of play. Miami also surged from an unexpected player in Gabe Vincent (18/3/3). Vincent shot 3/4 (75%) from the perimeter accounting for all nine of his points for the quarter while the rest of Miami shot 2/7 (28.6%). Miami’s ability to drain shot after shot with little to no contest from Utah, Miami finished the quarter with a 33-26 lead.
After a hot quarter from the perimeter, Miami cooled down in the second quarter. After going to the free throw only two times in the first quarter, Miami was able to shoot 12/14 (85.7%) in the second quarter. Utah struggled to find offense outside of Fontecchio and Markkanen, who had 41 of Utah’s 57 points at the half. Even Talen Horton-Tucker (9/6/8) who had been great offensively the last few games, finished the half with two points. Utah at one point held an eight-point lead, but with a 7-0 run to end the half led by Tyler Herro (18/6/2) and Kevin Love (11 points and 3 rebounds), Utah went into the locker room with a 57-56 lead.
Utah Jazz on Twitter: “💥 OCHAI UP TOP 💥 #TakeNote | @youngoch https://t.co/BpNv4zed12” / Twitter
801 vs 305
Both teams came out swinging to start the second half. With four of the first five made shots made in the quarter being perimeter shots, each team with two, this was just a taste of what these teams had in store. Ochai Agbaji (14/4/1), who had seven points in the first half, scored seven points in the third quarter including a wide-open perimeter shot to add to the shooting barrage. Though Jimmy Butler (24/8/4) finished the quarter with 11 points, he looked to be forcing shots after going 2/7 (28.6%) from the field. Butler’s ability to get to the line accounted for seven of his points in the quarter. After a back-and-forth battle, Miami came back to tie up the score at 90 points apiece.
The fourth quarter like Miami had an answer to every attack Utah had. Utah continued to keep Miami in the game by sending them to the free-throw line. Bam Adebayo (16/9/3) accounted for four of the nine made free throws in the quarter. In the final seconds as Miami led 117-115, Agbaji had the opportunity to tie the game up the game as Adebayo blocked the shot with Agbaji missing a wide-open Walker Kessler (7/9/1). With Adebayo making both free throws after being immediately fouled after the block, Miami came away with the close win 119-115 sweeping the season series 2-0.
What’s Next
Utah will have a four-day break before returning home to take on the Boston Celtics on Saturday.