“You’ve Got To Give Us Credit” | Conley Comes Up Clutch | Utah Jazz

Exactly two weeks ago, Utah blew a 12-point fourth quarter lead to the Los Angeles Lakers on the road. A combination of ineffective offense and inactive defense allowed the Lakers to come storming back for the win.

The Jazz found themselves in an identical situation on Wednesday night against the upstart Houston Rockets — but rather than fulling collapsing, Utah was able to grind out the victory.

Leading by as many as 14 with just over six minutes to play, the Rockets staged a massive comeback, sending the game into overtime with a buzzer-beating three-pointer. But Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell took over in the extra period, scoring all 15 points as Utah won 132-127.

“I’m a tough critic, but you’ve got to give us credit,” Mitchell said postgame. We fought and competed late. … Not every game is going to be a blowout. We blew them out in Utah and they’ve got pride and guys who can score and they showed that. On the same token, we can do better. … I think we all agree on that.”

| “It was a game we can absorb and learn from. … There’s not a lot of magic to what happened, but there’s things we know are going to happen to us, and we need to be able to handle them.”https://t.co/peTTvGdg2i

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 3, 2022

Here are five things to know following the win:

1.) Conley Comes Up Clutch
Despite being an all-star last season, Conley has been considered somewhat of an after-thought for much of the season in the eye of the national media. Mitchell and Rudy Gobert get all the headlines, and rightfully so, but there’s still another star player on the Jazz.

That’s what Conley did on Wednesday night — he reminded the league that there’s still another player in Utah who can’t be slept on.

Over the final 30 seconds of regulation and five minutes of overtime, Conley scored 12 of Utah’s 18 points as he nearly singlehandedly saved the Jazz from what would’ve been a disastrous loss.

After hitting what appeared to be the game-winning bucket — a three-pointer from the corner — overtime was where Conley came up clutch again. He scored Utah’s final nine points, including a personal 7-0 run.

He finished the night with 15 points, eight assists, four rebounds, and four steals, a masterful performance from someone who dominated a game despite taking 10 shots.

“Shots weren’t falling for me personally. … But I had a couple really good looks late in moments I’m accustomed to performing in,” Conley said postgame.

“I wasn’t thinking he was having a bad night. … I’m thinking, ‘When I watch him shoot, I’m expecting the ball to go in,'” Snyder said of Conley.

A look at that @mconley11 triple pic.twitter.com/tpNFYAWdZD

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 3, 2022

Cool.
Calm.
Conley. pic.twitter.com/1YNmvFsMpB

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 3, 2022

2.) Donovan Mitchell Stays On A Tear
It was just over a month ago when Mitchell was going through some real struggles. Confined to the darkness of his own home following a severe concussion, doubts took hold in Mitchell’s mind about when he would be able to see the court again.

Turns out that not only would Mitchell return to the court, but he would also do so with a vengeance — and Wednesday’s performance at Houston was just another victim left in his path.

With his ever-improving three-point shot, Mitchell was lights out on the offensive end. He finished with 37 points, 10 assists, and three steals, shooting 13-of-27 from the floor — it was his first 30-point, 10-assist game of his career.

Mitchell wasted no time getting off to a hot start, exploding for 13 points in the opening quarter. He then helped save the team in overtime — before Conley took over — scoring six straight points after Houston took a five-point advantage early on.

Since his return, Mitchell has averaged 28.8 points, 5.9 assists, 4.7 rebounds on 44.9% shooting from beyond the arc. Whether it’s three-point shooting or getting to the rim at ease, he’s beating teams from every level of offense.

| @spidadmitchell: 37 points, 10 assists, 4 3PM, 3 steals, 2 rebounds #TakeNote | @ZionsBank pic.twitter.com/0dqquYJa6R

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 3, 2022

3.) Rudy Gobert Was A Monster
Much like Mitchell, Gobert was sidelined for a significant amount of time after suffering a left calf strain. After returning for two games before the all-star break, performances that showed Gobert wasn’t fully healthy, it’s safe to say that since returning from the break, Gobert is ready to go.

He notched his third consecutive double-double, dropping a season-high 27 points, 17 rebounds, two blocks, and a season-high 10 dunks.

Most impressively, more than the stats, was how he achieved those numbers. Many might look at the 10 dunks and think it would’ve been easy for him — but the truth is that Gobert outworked and was more physical than Houston.

Although he checks in at 7-foot-1, Gobert’s ability to run the court like a guard led to many possibilities for him down low. Because of his hustle, he out-sprinted Houston’s big men to the paint, either establishing deep position or taking advantage of the mismatches.

Gobert has never needed to be a 20-25 point scorer a night for the Jazz to be successful. But getting easy buckets by simply being himself and out-hustling others, that’s when Utah’s offense becomes unstoppable.

A career-high 10 dunks in a game for @rudygobert27 #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/ri4SsnXwiT

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 3, 2022

4.) To Foul Or Not To Foul. … That Is the Question
It’s safe to say that Utah ran into some drama late in the game as a miscommunication eventually led to the team needing an extra five minutes to get the win.

Houston took a timeout after Conley’s three-pointer with 8.3 seconds left that gave the Jazz a 117-114 lead. In Utah’s huddle, the agreed-upon plan was to foul, not allowing the Rockets to set up their offense for an open three-pointer — they’d hit 20 on the night up that point.

“The plan was to foul. … We did, and they (officials) didn’t call it,” Gobert said.

Gobert is correct on both instances. He attempted to foul Christian Wood but didn’t appear to hit him hard enough, and the officials swallowed the whistle and allowed the game to go on — resulting in Wood’s game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer.

But the play should never have come down to Gobert fouling on the perimeter. Danuel House Jr., who was sensational in Sunday’s victory over Phoenix, had the opportunity to foul on a few occasions and wasn’t able too.

“That was a breakdown,” Quin Snyder later said. “That’s something we talked about at the time out.”

While it’s a tough break that the Jazz had a miscommunication at such an important point in the game, the takeaway is a lesson learned and a victory — and that’s all that matters this late in the season.

| “That time of the game, there’s something about it. You want to lock in a little bit more.”#walkoffinterview | @lhmauto pic.twitter.com/JPJssaCPik

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 3, 2022

5.) Utah Shows Resiliency In Victory
Sometimes, the final score does not matter when battling for playoff positioning — all that matters is the result.

That’s exactly what Utah will take away from Wednesday’s game against Houston.

Under normal circumstances with a normal team, it would not have been shocking if Utah would’ve fallen to the Rockets in overtime given what had just taken place.

The Jazz blew a 14-point lead with just over six minutes to play, including a game-tying, buzzer-beating three-pointer to send the game to overtime. They fell behind by five early in the extra period, putting their winning streak in serious jeopardy.

But make no mistake, these are not ordinary times, and Utah is not an ordinary team. The Jazz consider themselves legitimate title contenders (and for good reason) and are battling for playoff seeding, making every game more critical.

So the fact that Utah was able to overcome all of the adversity and get the victory, that’s the only thing that matters moving forward.

“To be down for overtime and come back and win the game, that’s not lost on me, and it shouldn’t be lost on anyone,” Snyder said.