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SALT LAKE CITY - Live by the three and die by the three. At the end of the playoff race the Jazz or the Suns will fulfill this saying. At least they did last night.
Looking at the stat sheet for last night's 107-105 Jazz loss to the Suns a big number that jumps out is that the Suns had thirteen 3-pointers, compared to only three for the Jazz.
Last night the easy answer for why the Suns hit so many 3-pointers is that they took 31 of them. But they were also shooting 41 percent, well above the Suns average of 34 percent.
| Utah Jazz Shooting Stats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | FG | 3P | FT | PPG |
| R. Bell | 47.9% | 40.5% | 84.0% | 6.6 |
| J. Tinsley | 40.6% | 34.8% | 62.5% | 3.5 |
| A. Jefferson | 49.3% | 33.3% | 77.5% | 19.4 |
| D. Carroll | 35.3% | 33.3% | 75.0% | 2.9 |
| D. Harris | 44.5% | 32.9% | 76.8% | 10.1 |
| C. Miles | 38.2% | 30.9% | 79.3% | 9.2 |
| G. Hayward | 44.8% | 30.5% | 81.6% | 11.1 |
| A. Burks | 42.8% | 27.3% | 69.5% | 7.1 |
| P. Millsap | 50.6% | 22.2% | 81.2% | 16.6 |
| J. Howard | 39.7% | 22.2% | 77.9% | 8.7 |
| E. Watson | 34.0% | 19.2% | 68.2% | 3 |
| D. Favors | 48.6% | 63.4% | 8.6 | |
| E. Kanter | 47.4% | 64.3% | 4.6 | |
| J. Evans | 65.5% | 40.0% | 1.7 |
"You shoot 13 for 31, that's Phoenix, that's who they are," said Coach Tyrone Corbin.
The heartbreaking loss could come down to two 3-pointers - a miss and a make, and both happened with the clock running down. The first was Channing Frye's turn-around 3-pointer with 1:06 left but the shot clock was running out. The second was C.J. Miles desperation shot at the end of the game.
Frankly, neither shot should have gone in. That is the nature of the Jazz's recent slide. The Suns, Kings and Hawks had shots that went in, despite how well the Jazz played on defense.
David Locke tweeted this after the game last night, "Jazz defense allows 34.1% from three point range and allow 18 three's taken a game -- League average is 34.4% and 18.3 attempts."
Over their 2-5 stretch they have let teams shoot 54-145 for a 35 percent clip, which is right at their average, the problem might lie in their own 3-point shooting. They are shooting 30 percent on 28-94 shooting.
The problem is both the low percentage of shots and that they are using their jump shots instead of going down low for high percentage shots. Corbin mentioned specifically that the Jazz fell into the "trap" of trying to match the Suns and take quick shots.
"We are who we are, they are they are," Corbin said.
The Jazz are next to last in 3-point shooting, but they are tenth in the league in overall field goal shooting. Corbin said it and the numbers back it up. The Jazz are built to attack the paint, an outside shot would help, but after 55 games they are who they are.
The other end of the coin is Phoenix. They were living by the three, scoring points and extending their lead until they hit a drought. After a Michael Redd 3-pointer the Suns were up by 8, with most of the lead coming from outside shots. They stretched the lead to 10.
That happened with 6:47 left in the game. They then missed 6 consecutive outside shots, one was a 20-foot 2-pointer, and the Jazz climbed back in to the game. Then Frye hit his shot and that proved to be the difference in the game.
For the last play Miles said that he wasn't the first option and only got the ball because he could catch the ball out of bounds away from the defense. He only had 1.7 seconds to take the shot.
The Suns desperation went in, the Jazz desperation grew from a miss.
Live by the three or die by the three.
