Ja Morant put on a historic performance for the Memphis Grizzlies. Even so, the Jazz guards were able to counter him with their own barrage of scoring.
While Mitchell was somewhat controversially forced to sit out Game 1 against the Grizzlies, which the Jazzmen lost, he looked to be 100 percent from Game 2 through the end of the series.
Mitchell averaged 28.5 points to go along with his 5.8 assists per game. He played as confident and aggressive as ever, never shying away from Dillon Brooks’ sturdy defense while often being the main reason that the versatile Memphis wing was racking up fouls.
Assuming that Conley is healthy to play from the get-go in the Western Conference Semifinals, he and Mitchell will both need to keep up this level of play for the Utah Jazz to advance to the franchise’s first Western Conference Finals since 2007.
the Jazzmen</a> were able to regain control of the series and close it out in five games, 4-1. Still, while the Grizzlies were young and had little playoff experience on their roster, they made it clear that they wouldn’t go down without a fight.</p>
<p>Now, here are three primary strengths the Jazz utilized to knock the Grizzlies out that ought to help them for the remainder of their playoff run…</p>
<h2>Utah Jazz forcing opposing star power off the court</h2>
<p>Dillon Brooks quickly became the Jazz’s No. 1 enemy in the series. He’s a physical defender and has slowly become an essential part of the Grizzlies offense during his four years in Memphis.</p>
<p>Despite his ascension this year, though, it became more clear against Utah that Brooks had one fatal flaw: foul trouble.</p>
<div class="embed embed-video"><iframe loading="lazy" width="500" height="281" src=https://thejnotes.com/2021/06/07/utah-jazz-3-strengths-foretell-success/2/"https://www.youtube.com/embed/_Dx0MF6F21g?feature=oembed%22 frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<p>Brooks led the entire league this regular season in <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/06/07/utah-jazz-3-strengths-foretell-success/2/"https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/who-committed-the-most-fouls-this-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fouls committed</a>. When he faced foul trouble, it threw off his game and didn’t allow him to be as physical on defense as he would’ve liked. In his team’s three-point Game 1 win, he committed only two fouls and led the game in scoring with 31 points.</p>
<p>Yet during Game 2 through Game 4, the Jazzmen were able to get him into foul trouble, even causing him to foul out of Game 3. Without Brooks on the floor, Memphis had to resort to giving increased minutes to smaller guards like Grayson Allen and De’Anthony Melton, who don’t possess the same defensive tenacity as Brooks.</p>
<p>When that happened, it made it even easier for the Jazz guards to do what they’ve done all year: get buckets.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/06/07/utah-jazz-3-strengths-foretell-success/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> All-Stars looking like All-Stars </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div class="embed embed-video"><iframe loading="lazy" width="500" height="281" src=https://thejnotes.com/2021/06/07/utah-jazz-3-strengths-foretell-success/2/"https://www.youtube.com/embed/G-UyB8W0OeY?feature=oembed%22 frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<h2>Reliance on the Utah Jazz’s All-Star backcourt</h2>
<p>The Jazz duo of <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/06/07/utah-jazz-3-strengths-foretell-success/2/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/conlemi01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Mike Conley</a> and <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/06/07/utah-jazz-3-strengths-foretell-success/2/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mitchdo01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Donovan Mitchell</a> showed the world exactly why they were both named All-Stars this year alongside Utah big man Rudy Gobert.</p>
<p>Ja Morant put on a historic performance for the Memphis Grizzlies. Even so, the Jazz guards were able to counter him with their own barrage of scoring.</p>
<p>Despite having to leave Game 5 early with <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/06/07/utah-jazz-3-strengths-foretell-success/2/"https://www.deseret.com/2021/6/3/22517864/mike-conley-mild-right-hamstring-strain-will-be-reevaluated-before-utah-jazz-next-nba-playoffs-game" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a hamstring injury</a>, Conley averaged 17.4 points per game in the five bouts with his former team. On top of his scoring against Memphis, he also proved that he’s still a master at orchestrating the offense as he averaged a career playoff-high 8.6 assists per game.</p>
<p>While Mitchell was somewhat controversially forced to sit out Game 1 against the Grizzlies, which the Jazzmen lost, he looked to be 100 percent from Game 2 through the end of the series.</p>
<p>Mitchell averaged 28.5 points to go along with his 5.8 assists per game. He played as confident and aggressive as ever, <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/06/07/utah-jazz-3-strengths-foretell-success/2/"https://kslsports.com/460717/jazz-guard-donovan-mitchell-beats-shot-clock-buries-three-in-dillon-brooks-face/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">never shying away</a> from Dillon Brooks’ sturdy defense while often being the main reason that the versatile Memphis wing was racking up fouls.</p>
<p>Assuming that Conley is healthy to play from the get-go in the Western Conference Semifinals, he and Mitchell will both need to keep up this level of play for the Utah Jazz to advance to the franchise’s first Western Conference Finals since 2007.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/06/07/utah-jazz-3-strengths-foretell-success/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Jazz string music </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div class="embed embed-video"><iframe loading="lazy" width="500" height="281" src=https://thejnotes.com/2021/06/07/utah-jazz-3-strengths-foretell-success/2/"https://www.youtube.com/embed/1Xyu2qSEL38?feature=oembed%22 frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<h2>Utah Jazz playing string music</h2>
<p>The Jazz came into the NBA Playoffs as the hottest shooting team in the league. They led the entire league in the regular season with their <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/06/07/utah-jazz-3-strengths-foretell-success/2/"https://www.teamrankings.com/nba/stat/three-pointers-made-per-game" target="_blank" rel="noopener">16.7 made 3-pointers per game</a>.</p>
<p>And in their first-round matchup with the Grizzlies, the Jazzmen were able to keep up their prolific outside shooting.</p>
<p>Against Memphis, Utah saw five of its players shoot over 40 percent from deep. In fact, the Jazz shot even higher from the field and from long range than they did in the regular season, connecting on 48.8 percent of their attempts from the field and 40.6 percent from 3-point land versus the Grizzlies.</p>
<p><strong>ALSO READ:</strong> <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/06/07/utah-jazz-3-strengths-foretell-success/2/"https://thejnotes.com/2021/06/06/utah-jazz-overdue-among-playoff-teams/">The most overdue franchise among remaining playoff teams</a></p>
<p>In doing so, it became apparent that their historic shooting during the regular season was far from a fluke.</p>
<p>Now, the No. 1 seed Utah Jazz will hope to maintain their hot hands when the No. 4 seed Los Angeles Clippers travel to Salt Lake City for Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals at 8 p.m. MT Tuesday.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="The 50 greatest Jazz players of all time" data-url="https://thejnotes.com/2021/04/15/utah-jazz-50-greatest-players-history/" data-call-to-action="Next"
> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/06/07/utah-jazz-3-strengths-foretell-success/2/"https://thejnotes.com/2021/04/15/utah-jazz-50-greatest-players-history/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> The 50 greatest Jazz players of all time </a> </div>
</div>
<p>Again, it should also help their chances going forward to continue seeing elite-level production from their All-Star backcourt — not to mention, of course, two-time All-Star center Rudy Gobert — while forcing key weapons on the opposition into foul trouble.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">