Jazz Fall Short On Record Breaking Night

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – The Utah Jazz set a record for threes made in a night with 21. 

Joe Ingles moved into second place on the Jazz all-time made threes list. 

Giannis Antetokounmpo attempted the most field goals of his career, 31, and finished with the second-most points of his career, 50. 

Ultimately, the Milwaukee Bucks got the best of the Jazz and won 122-118 in a record-breaking night in Wisconsin. 

Gobert Out

The Jazz came into the night facing an uphill battle, without reigning Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert who missed his second straight game with a rolled ankle, but kept the game close with their hot three-point shooting. 

Gobert suffered the injury Friday night against the Golden State Warriors. Tony Bradley filled in admirably again in Gobert’s absence, contributing eight points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks. 

“Tony competed his tail off and gave us really good minutes,” Coach Quin Snyder said, “He played with a lot of composure, building off his late-game where he did the same thing.” 

🚂TONY pic.twitter.com/GlTz89ytfo

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) November 26, 2019

Gobert was a game-time decision for the Jazz but ultimately sat out. He’ll attempt a return Wednesday on the second stop of the Jazz five-game road trip against Indiana. 

MVP Performance

Antetokounmpo proved why he’s the reigning MVP, scoring 50 points for the Bucks, including a crucial 18 points in the pivotal third quarter. The Jazz were outscored 42-26 in the quarter, turning a nine-point halftime lead into a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit. 

“He’s a terrific player, he did what he’s capable of doing.“ Snyder said, ”When you do get stops, it’s tough to secure a rebound because he’s deep and he’s able to rebound his own miss.” 

ON. A. MISSION.#FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/rP3kXpykBL

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) November 26, 2019

Forced to play small without Gobert, the Jazz gave up 28 second-chance points to the Bucks while recording just two of their own. The Jazz grabbed only four offensive rebounds as a team, a number that ranks in the bottom two percent of outings from any team this season. 

Despite coming up on the wrong end of the scoreboard, the Jazz didn’t have much to complain about in their performance. 

“I don’t think we’re going to hang our heads at the end of the day,” Donovan Mitchell said. 

Mitchell finished with 20 points but had his potential came tying layup blocked by Brook Lopez with just over three seconds left to play. The third-year guard appeared to slightly confused on the game-deciding play, before driving to the rim to attempt to tie the game. 

BIG. BLOCK. BROOK. #FearTheDeer pic.twitter.com/s9leCiFT0n

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) November 26, 2019

“We were calling a few different things from a few different people,” Mitchell said, “but thank goodness we went through this in November.”

Bench Improving

The Jazz may be thankful for the adversity they have faced in November later on in the season, at is appears the offense has uncovered an extra gear at times with Jeff Green logging minutes at the center position. Green finished the night with 11 points on 4-6 shooting, including 3-5 from the three-point line. 

The second unit overall gave the Jazz a much-needed boost. Each of the four bench players scored in double figures and combined to score 51 points on 19-33 shooting. 

Money Emmanuel #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/6JzzXBfmLI

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) November 26, 2019

“I think you gotta give credit to Georges [Niang], Emmanuel [Mudiay], and [Bradley]. Without those three its a different game. I’m really proud of those three, they kept us in it.” Mitchell said. 

Ingles broke out of a recent shooting slump, knocking down 5-10 from the floor and 3-7 from the three-point line. Dante Exum didn’t record any minutes for the team. 

“[Ingles] had a terrific game,” Snyder said, “good to see him making plays, shooting the ball.” 

Joe is 3-5 from distance ☕️ pic.twitter.com/RBFUiNUEn1

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) November 26, 2019

The Jazz have scored 30 points or more in seven of their previous 12 quarters, a positive sign that the offense, which has struggled early in the season, maybe coming back to life. 

Ultimately, the Jazz were outplayed by an MVP caliber player, forced to play well beyond his normal minutes. For the second time this season, Antetokounmpo played nearly the entire third quarter in order to erase a large halftime deficit. Antetokounmpo finished the game playing nearly 39 minutes. He averages just 32 minutes for the season.