The Utah Jazz have just completed one of the most remarkable weeks in the history of professional basketball! Beating 5 teams in a row after being down by 11+ points at some point in the game. I've already addressed the Clipper game, so let's flash forward to the Miami game. Being down by 22 points against the Miami Heat in Miami, the Jazz came back to win in OT. Paul Millsap had 46 points, hit three clutch 3 point shots, and hit the game tying shot to go to Overtime. Not only that, but Francisco Elson closed the deal at the foul line as they won 116-114. That game was heroic and epic. It had it all, Lebron couldn't finish, Dywane wade hit a 3 to tie it at 114, etc. That game was unbelievable. Everybody stepped up. Deron Williams stepped up, and the whole bench came through, especially in OT when D-Will had to come out because he fouled out. The next night, the Jazz beat the Orlando Magic in Orlando after being down 18, 104-94. The Jazz finished that game off better because they didn't have a dramatic finish. They blew out Orlando 39-20 in the 4th quarter. In the Orlando game, Millsap had 23 points, Jefferson had 21 points, and Williams had 30 in that one. The Atlanta Game was remarkable in A-Town as the Jazz trailed by 11 to comeback and win 90-86. Once again, in crunch time the Jazz pulled it out. The Amazing part of the the Atlanta game was the Jazz won despite a down night from Al Jefferson who had 15 points and Paul Millsap who had 11 points. Williams had 24 points and carried the load in that win. The difference really in that win was the foul shooting. Utah shot 73.7% from the line, and Atlanta shot 52.4%. Atlanta's abysmal foul shooting cost them the win against Utah. The Jazz tonight beat the Bobcats 96-95 after being down by 16 points at half time. The Jazz came back, and won off of Deron Williams buzzer beating shot with .8 seconds to go. They shot 75.9 percent from the foul line tonight, Charlotte shot 70.8%.
Now I've just given a run down of all four games that they won coming back on the ROAD. But there are two key stats or areas that stand out to me in these games/comebacks. #1 is Foul shots. In the Miami game, the Jazz shot 85.7% from the line while the Heat Shot 76.7% from the line. In the Orlando Game, the Jazz shot 89.3% from the line while Orlando shot 56%. In the Atlanta game, the Jazz shot 73.7 % from the line and the Hawks shot 52.4 %. Tonight in Charlotte, the Jazz shot 75.9 % from the line, while Charlotte shot 70.8%. In every win, the Jazz have shot a higher percentage of foul shots than their opponents. They Jazz collectively shot 81.4% from the foul line in the 4 game road trip. Their eastern conference opponents shot 66.7% from the line. The Jazz shot way better from the foul line than their opponents did. The only anomaly is the Clipper game where the Clipps shot 87.5% from the foul line and the Jazz shot 74.2%, but that wasn't apart of the eastern conference road trip obviously. As a whole, Utah has been shooting great from the foul line. If they want to keep up their success they need to shoot well from the line, and they need their opponents to not do as well from the line. The bottom in line is that the Jazz won those 4 games on the road in hostile environments because they shot well from the foul line.
The #2 stat is that the Jazz are killing their opponents in the 3rd and 4th quarter. Against the Clippers, the Jazz outscored them 31-18 in the 3rd quarter. Against Miami, the Jazz outscored the Heat 42-29 in the 4th quarter. Against Orlando, the Jazz outscored the Magic 39-20 in the 4th quarter. Against Atlanta, the Jazz outscored the Hawks 27-17 in the fourth quarter. Against Charlotte, the Jazz outscored the Bobcats 33-22 in the 4th quarter.
All in All, the key to these comebacks has been foul shots, and finishing off their opponents in the 4th quarter. They are finishing strong and are shooting well from the line. If the Jazz do those 2 things this year, they will win many games. Provided they don't always get down early. Go Jazz!
No comments:
Post a Comment