by Alma Bean
Feature Image by Brandon Dill of AP Photo
The Utah Jazz (6-11) takes on the Memphis Grizzlies (3-13) in the first night of a road back-to-back in their third and final matchup of the season.
Battle of the Bears
To start up this game, it looked as if Utah’s winning ways had carried over from their previous two matchups. Being up by as much as eight points in the first quarter, the shooting numbers wouldn’t put Utah in that promising of a look. Shooting 8/24 (33.4%) from the field while shooting 3/12 (25%) inside the perimeter, Utah struggled to score against the Defensive Player of the Year, Jaren Jackson Jr. (20/6/1) who had two blocks in the quarter. Memphis nearly mimicked Utah’s shooting numbers and with that Utah finished the quarter with a 25-24 lead.
In the second quarter, it looked like Utah was either gassed or just done playing quickly. Shooting 6/22 (27.3%) from the field and an atrocious 3/13 (23.1%) within the perimeter. Even Walker Kessler (9/8/2), who normally controls the paint on both ends of the court, struggled to get the ball in the hoop shooting just 1/6 (16.7%) from the field for the half. On the other hand, Memphis showed that even though their record makes them one of the worst teams in the west, they have plenty of fight in them. Ziaire Williams (15 points and 8 rebounds) had the hot hand in the second quarter shooting 4/5 (80%) from the field and accounting for a fourth of Memphis’ points in the quarter. With Memphis finding their groove they outscored Utah 36-17 in the quarter to give them a 60-42 lead going into the half.
Heartbreak Hotel
Even after a lopsided second quarter, Memphis didn’t take their foot off the gas pedal. Starting off the quarter with a 7-0 run started by Desmond Bane (17/7/9) that propelled Memphis to a 25-point lead, the largest lead of the game to this point. With the score getting out of hand, Utah looked to an unusual player to try and get them back in the game with Simone Fontecchio (12/4/4). After shooting 0/5 (0%) in the first half, Fontecchio shot 4/8 (50%) from the field with all four makes coming from the three-point line. With Utah continuing to struggle to score a basket within the perimeter, shooting 5/16 (31.3%), Utah finished the quarter trailing 88-67.
With Utah trailing big going into the final quarter on the first night of a back-to-back, this gave opportunities to bench and role players to capitalize on some extra minutes. Luka Samanic (5 points and 2 rebounds), making his seventh appearance this season, made the most of his time shooting 2/2 (100%) in his five minutes of play. Collin Sexton (9/2/3) made a late run to bring Utah with 18 points with three minutes in the game, but the surge came in a little too late. Even with Utah coming into this game with an extreme amount of confidence, they couldn’t deliver as they fall to Memphis 105-91 to start their back-to-back road trip.
What’s Next
Utah will take on the red-hot Minnesota Timberwolves tomorrow night on the tail end of a back-to-back road trip.
The Hive Sports 
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