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SALT LAKE CITY — The Jazz were sitting on the edge of missing the playoffs in an unofficial playoff game when they were looking down the wrong end of a five-point deficit at halftime against one of the hottest teams in the league.
Another lineup change, this time starting Gordon Hayward, was an answer to slow starts in the first and third quarters. In the Jazz's 90-84 win over the Grizzlies the third quarter went from the bane of the Jazz to the quarter that might have saved their season.
The Jazz have had a hard time getting going in the third quarter. In the previous ten games the Jazz played they had been outscored by an average of five points in the quarter. They also went 2-8 in those games. Against the Grizzlies something changed and the Jazz controlled the third and because of that, their playoff lives.
"I think the starters came out and picked up the energy," said Derrick Favors "They set the tone from the beginning of the third quarter. They were getting stops, making shots and being physical on the defensive end. The starters came in and set the tone."
It wasn't the prettiest night all around, but the third quarter for the Jazz was one of best quarters they have played all season. In the first 10 minutes of the third the Grizzlies had only scored five points, while the Jazz had scored 22. The quarter ended with a 24-9 difference.
The team was aware of their third quarter shortcomings. They all seemed to know and felt good that the monkey was off their backs.
"They have been problems for us," Jefferson said. "It was definitely something we had to improve in. We did a good job tonight. It's kind of tough to play against great teams and digging ourselves in a deep hole and trying to fight out of it every night. It's good to get out to a good start in the first and third quarter."
Jefferson said nothing really changed as opposed to recent games. They just went out and executed in the third better than they had been doing. The key might have been starting Hayward, who had been coming off the bench, pretty successfully, since November.
Whatever it was, it worked. The Jazz know where their success comes from. When the defense is working it can change games in their favor quickly.
"We got stops, we were able to get out in transition," Hayward said. "We got to be able to finish those more. I think it all started defensively for us, stops and rebounds."
Part of the defense was holding the Memphis front court of Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph to a combined 30 points. They both played about five minutes more, but weren't as successful as they had been. Randolph was 7-11 for 19 points, while Gasol only went 5-14 from the field.
"We're just trying to make it tough for them," Favors said. "We know they're great players, they are All-Stars. We just tried to make it tough for them, try to contain them."
Looking at the stat sheet the only player that really kept the Grizzlies in the game was Jerryd Bayless, who scored 24 points in 24 minutes, going 9-14 from the field.
This was the first victory over a team with a winning record since the All-Star break. The Grizzlies are a team that can give the Jazz problems and they could have just about ended the Jazz's season if the Jazz didn't come out and win the third quarter.
The Jazz did and, while out of the playoffs technically, they still control their own playoff destiny with 16 games left. Nine home games, seven on the road now stand between the Jazz and the playoffs.
