After a Game 1 scare, the Utah Jazz, owners of the best record in the NBA during the regular season, are moving onto the second round of the playoffs following a 126-110 wire-to-wire victory over the Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday as Utah was able to close the series in five games.
Up next for the Jazz will be the winner of the Los Angeles Clippers-Dallas Mavericks series, one that currently sees the Mavericks up 3-2 with a chance to close out that series in Game 6 on Friday.
The first-round affair between the Jazz and Grizzlies started with a surprising 112-109 victory for Memphis, in a game that saw Canadian Dillon Brooks explode for 31 points on 13-of-26 shooting. In Game 2, it looked like Memphis could pull off another upset as sensational sophomore guard Ja Morant erupted for 47 points in that game but he, unfortunately, didn’t get enough support. From there on, after weathering that storm from Morant, the Jazz asserted themselves and showed why they were the best team in the league this season.
Here are a few takeaways from what ended up being a clinical first-round performance from the Jazz.
Donovan dominated, but there’s another gear he needs to hit
Jazz star Donovan Mitchell was fabulous for Utah in the series.
After he was oddly listed as a late scratch before Game 1, something he wasn’t happy about, Mitchell came out in Game 2 and was a major reason why the Jazz had virtually no problems putting away the Grizzlies thereafter.
In the four games Mitchell played in the series, not only did Utah win all of them he averaged 28.5 points per game as the Grizzlies had no answers for him.
As dominant as Mitchell was, though, it still feels like there’s another level he can hit and he’ll likely need to do so to give the Jazz a better chance against either the Clippers or Mavericks in the next round.
Yes, Mitchell scored a ton for Utah, but he wasn’t as efficient as he likely could have been. Over his first three games, Mitchell shot just 39.1 per cent from the field and 33.3 per cent from three-point range. That means that, in order to get his, Mitchell was forced to turn into a volume shooter, something that, had the Grizzlies been a little more experienced and/or talented, could easily have been exploited.
The Clippers and Mavericks are likely to jump on this should Mitchell have a bad shooting night, which is why the game Mitchell had in the clinching Game 5 was so encouraging. He finished Wednesday’s game with 30 points on scorching 11-of-16 shooting including a 5-for-8 mark from three-point range.
A Mitchell who’s scoring that efficiently makes the Jazz nigh unbeatable, and for him to have a game like that heading into the next round bodes well for Utah.
Valuable experience for young Grizzlies
Despite the loss, the Grizzlies have nothing to hang their heads about because this looks like just the start of something special in Memphis.
Memphis wasn’t even supposed to be here to begin with.
They finished the regular season as the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference, but then went on a great run in the play-in tournament, beating the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors to earn the No. 8 seed where its prize was an encounter with the Jazz.
Just making the post-season was a win for the Grizzlies this season, but to then actually take Game 1 over the Jazz was great icing on the cake as this young team can only get better from here on out.
In particular, the strong performances seen from players like Morant and Brooks, and the valuable experience that other key members of Memphis’ young core like Jaren Jackson Jr. and Kyle Anderson should only make the Grizzlies that much stronger and more dangerous in the future.
This is a young group of players that not only understand how hard the post-season can be, but also what some post-season success looks like and how to achieve it.
Yet another benefit of the play-in tournament that, perhaps, we didn’t see before was what it could do to help up-and-coming teams like the Grizzlies get its sea-legs under them in high-stakes games before the playoffs begin.
The future looks bright in Memphis.
Good news for Canada Basketball
Last week, Canada Basketball unveiled its list of athletes who received training camp invites for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Victoria.
Among the 21 listed were Grizzlies players Brooks and Brandon Clarke.
Though the two would surely like to still be playing with the Grizzlies right now, a silver lining in them getting bounced as early as now is there’s now nothing to stand in the two Canadians’ way to show up in for training camp in Tampa, Fla., beginning on June 16.
This is great news for the Canadian men’s national team as both men figure to be strong candidates to make the final 12 representing Canada in Victoria at the end of the month.
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