Mitchell, Conley Carry Jazz Over Memphis In Game Three

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz won their pivotal game three matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies 121-111 to take their first series lead two games to one.

Guards Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley combined for 56 points to edge Memphis after once again surrendering a double-digit lead late in the game.

Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks combined for 55 points, but couldn’t maintain their magic down the stretch as they relinquished home-court advantage back to the Jazz in the loss.

Home court advantage goes back to the @utahjazz and a chance to go up 3-1 with a win on Monday.#TakeNote #NBAPlayoffs https://t.co/DUwZ1H4ypl

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) May 30, 2021

Mitchell The Closer

Donovan Mithell removed any doubt that he was the Jazz closer after piecing together another brilliant fourth quarter to earn his team the victory.

After scoring 19 points over the first three quarters on 7-17 shooting, Mitchell closed the game scoring 10 of the Jazz final 14 points over the final 4:04 of the game, while shooting 2-6 from the floor but earning six trips to the free-throw line.

Perhaps most importantly, Mitchell drew a crucial sixth foul on Dillon Brooks, forcing him to leave the game with 2:11 left to play, severely limiting the Grizzlies’ offensive attack.

“We can go up to 20 or 30 against this team, they’re going to come back,” Mitchell said of the Grizzlies. “They just have that will about them — hats off to them for that but it’s all about the mental part, locking in and executing and then also responding to adversity when you make mistakes.”

Donovan Mitchell pulls up and puts the Jazz up 4!@utahjazz 113@memgrizz 109

3:15 left on ESPN. #NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/g0RpS9FejW

— NBA (@NBA) May 30, 2021

The Jazz opened the fourth quarter with an 11 point lead, but Memphis’ second unit strung together an impressive 8-0 run to open the final period cutting the Jazz lead to just three.

After the Grizzlies took a 107-105 lead with five minutes left in the game, the Jazz turned to Mitchell down the stretch and the All-Star guard delivered.

The guard hit a driving finger roll over Jonas Valanciuans and earned a trip to the free-throw line, followed up by a three-point shot to build the Jazz lead to four with 3:15 left to play.

Mitchell forced a turnover on the next play and hit 4-5 free-throws down the stretch of the game ice the victory.

“When you have a guy that has that much belief in himself, that much belief in his teammates, and that competitive fire, he’s going to make some things happen,” coach Quin Snyder said after the game.

Donovan Mitchell scores 10 of the Jazz final 14 points over the final 4 minutes of the game after Memphis took a 109-107 lead.

29 points on a 30 minute minutes restriction.

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) May 30, 2021

Even on a minute restriction that kept him under 30 minutes on the floor, Mitchell contributed 29 points to lead all scorers. Over his last nine playoff games, the guard is averaging 34.2 points per game and hasn’t scored fewer than 20 points in any game over the last two playoff series.

Conley The Opener

While Mitchell was the Jazz closer, it was the Mike Conley who dominated the first three and a half quarters to help retake home-court advantage.

Conley dished out 26 over the first two games of the series, repeatedly abusing Memphis in the pick and roll largely as a result of the Grizzlies’ willingness to go over the top of Rudy Gobert screens above the three-point line.

In game three, Memphis generally preferred to dip under the screen, limiting Conley’s ability to get into the paint, so he punished them from the three-point line instead.

🏔🏔🏔 pic.twitter.com/ZyJJTnku5z

— Mike Conley (@MCONLEY10) May 30, 2021

The veteran guard connected on 7-10 threes in game three en route to 27 points on a mega efficient 8-16 shooting.

“It’s a great challenge to play against a team like this,” Conley said of his former team. “Especially on the road, and in a place I’m familiar playing in.”

In addition to his 27 points, Conley added six rebounds and eight assists while committing just two turnovers.

SIX threes for 1️⃣0️⃣#MACU3 | @MountainAmerica pic.twitter.com/eQugSeGVYU

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) May 30, 2021

Like Mitchell, the guard has upped his scoring average significantly in the playoffs averaging 21 points per game over his last eight outings and scoring fewer than 20 points in the stretch.

The Jazz acquired Conley with the hopes that he would relieve the ball-handling and playmaking pressure off Mitchell for stretches during the playoffs, and they’re reaping the rewards of that move in this series.

Jazz Treated Game Three In Memphis As Must Win

While teams usually try to downplay the importance of any non-elimination game as something other than a must-win, Conley wasn’t shy about the importance of game three for the Jazz.

“It was extremely important to win this one, honestly,” Conley said. “You don’t want to say must win too soon, but it felt like that. That’s the kind of urgency we’re playing with.”

After losing game one in Utah, the Jazz knew they’d have to win a game on the road to be able to win the series.

Mike Conley on winning game three:

"You don't want to say must win too soon, but we felt like that was the kind of urgency we were playing with."

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) May 30, 2021

The Jazz now avoid falling behind 2-1 in the series with their backs against the heading into a crucial game four on Monday night.

“This is a team you don’t want to play around with it all,” Conley said of the young Grizzlies. “We’ve tried a bunch of different things and they just keep attacking and keep finding ways to give themselves chances to win, so we have to continue to be locked in.”

While the Jazz would love to Memphis on Memorial Day and give themselves a commanding 3-1 lead heading back to Utah, they’ve achieved the bare minimum they had to during games three and four on the road by restoring home-court advantage.

Jazz Bench Struggles

While every Jazz starter had a positive plus-minus, the Jazz bench struggled mightily in Memphis.

There’s an old cliche that role players play better at home in the postseason, and at least for now, it’s holding true in this series.

The Jazz bench shot just 8-18 from the floor including 4-13 from three as every second unit player had a negative plus-minus outside of Joe Ingles.

Even Ingles, after a strong start in games one and two in Utah, struggled to contribute statistically to the Jazz in Memphis.

Ingles averaged 12.5 points in the opening two games of the series while shooting 66 percent for the floor and 60 percent from three.

Clarkson beats the 3Q buzzer 🚨 pic.twitter.com/R7eXLb5jNO

— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 30, 2021

In game three, he scored just three points on 1-4 shooting, handing out one assist and grabbing zero rebounds.

Jordan Clarkson may have broken out of his shooting slump to open the series in the second half, scoring eight points on 3-4 shooting including 2-2 from downtown, but was just 2-7 from the three-point line on the night and was a team-worst -7 for the night.

Three of the five Grizzlie bench players finished the night with a positive plus-minus, a feat unachieved by any starter from Memphis, and outscored the Jazz second unit 26-23.

Grayson Allen from 3-point land to tie the game and FedExForum is ROCKIN'!

8 minutes left on ESPN pic.twitter.com/XdFZzPbQep

— NBA (@NBA) May 30, 2021

Former Jazzman Grayson Allen added 17 points, despite being a -4 on the night, including five big points to open the fourth quarter to eat into the Jazz lead.

Clarkson and Ingles finishing first and second in Sixth Man of the Year voting was a big reason the Jazz owned the best record in the NBA this season, and they’ll need their second unit stars to improve on the road as the playoffs go deeper.

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