Memphis has achieved a triumph in Utah that at times seemed impossible. In an even game, the Tennessee team signed a dream final minute to turn a certain loss into a 118-119 win thanks to a triple by Jaren Jackson Jr. with seconds to play.
The Grizzlies needed a cheer. After a crash by 43 points in Minnesota, Taylor Jenkins’ boys came out of the mud in the best way possible: recovering their cheerful basketball and winning on one of the toughest courts in the NBA, the Utah Jazz’s Vivint Arena.
When we say it was a dream ending for the Grizzlies, it’s because it was. Bojan Boganovic, author of 24 points, signed two consecutive triples to put his team six points up (118-112) with a minute and a half to play. The victory was aimed at staying in Salt Lake City. The Jazz are a great team that is not easily surprised… Still, the unexpected happened.
The Memphis players went to the free throw line three times in a row while Utah missed each other. Of the six shots they had from the personal only four entered, but in the last error, committed by Ja Morant with 14.8 seconds left, they captured the rebound in attack. The next play was decisive. The Memphis point guard, who would score 32 points, dived for the basket before opening the ball to Jaren Jackson Jr., who did not forgive from the triple. Utah had one last chance at the hands of Donovan Mitchell, but he missed to complete a bad game of 18 points and 5 of 20 in shots from the field …
Every time Ja drives, it’s like he has eyes on the back of his neck. You know where everyone is on the court. It attracts a lot of attention and was able to find me in my place with a great pass, “says Jackson Jr., author of 26 points (highest scoring of the season).
For Rudy Gobert, who achieved a double-double of 23 points and 13 rebounds, the game was lost by themselves as they were unable to make effective the advantage they had in the last minutes of the game. “We were six up with one minute to play and in three consecutive possessions we weren’t able to execute well. Too many mistakes for a team that has the kind of experience we have, ”he says.
(Photograph by Sean Gardner / Getty Images)